The Return of Archangel
by time2thrASH
Summary: With the Reaper war over and Shepard gone, his friends have decisions to make about their futures. With some finding this easier than others, Garrus decides to walk a path he's travelled once before, and this time he's determined to make it work. (On Hiatus)
1. Chapter 1

The Return of Archangel

_(Post-Control Ending to ME3, MShep with LI Tali, not that it really matters that much to this particular story.)_

Chapter One

_SSV Normandy, 5 weeks after the Battle of London_

"_There's no Shepard without Vakarian."_

"Therefore, logically, there's no Vakarian without Shepard." Garrus said aloud, as he drained the contents of his glass.

The Normandy's lounge-slash-bar was quiet. Everyone on board was busying themselves now that repairs were complete and the Normandy was in the air, but no-one was in a particularly celebratory mood. The Normandy had been stranded without news on the jungle planet for some time before impulse engines had been restored. Joker's voice suddenly blared over the comm.

"Hold on to your hats people, we're gonna get some turbulence as we pass through atmo."

Garrus steadied his glass and the bottle as the turbulence hit. After a few seconds, Joker's voice came over the comm again.

"We're all clear folks, commencing long range scan."

Garrus returned to his deliberations. No-one knew quite what had happened. EDI was as close to perplexed as an AI could be. The chances of crash-landing on a habitable planet were quite literally astronomical. She reported being locked out of systems when the blue shockwave caught up with them, as if her navigation and propulsion systems suddenly gained minds of their own.

Then, as quickly as the systems had been taken over, they were operational again. Garrus recalled the conversation he and Shepard had before the Battle of London, about Shepard watching over him from the bar in heaven.

When EDI relayed the story of the anomaly, that's when he knew. Shepard was dead. Watching over them, sure, but dead all the same.

Garrus thought back over Shepard's life. He remembered standing next to Wrex, awestruck as Shepard was lifted into the air by the Prothean beacon on Virmire. Even then, Shepard probably knew how his story would end, Garrus reasoned.

The turian sighed, and poured himself another brandy, pausing as he realised that the bottle was suspiciously lighter than it should be. Tali must have been hitting the bottle as hard as she dared.

Garrus was impressed with Tali. She had lost the most when the Normandy had retreated to the relay. But, after the crash landing, she attended to her duties in the engine room as normal, getting the Normandy ready to return to Earth. He hoped that she wasn't in denial over the loss of her love, though was extremely relieved that he hadn't needed to wrestle her shotgun away from her. More than anything, she was quiet. So were James and Javik. Even Joker and EDI were far more subdued than normal. Still, he didn't like to think of her nursing a glass of brandy and crying alone in Shepard's cabin during her off-time.

Liara went into full Shadow Broker mode, acting as the Major's XO, getting repairs into full swing. She was doing her best to comfort Tali, while still mourning the overwhelming annihilation that had befallen Thessia and the loss of Shepard himself.

"_And what have you done, son?"_ His father's voice drifted into his head. Garrus snorted into his brandy.

"_Well Dad, I've sat here getting drunk."_

"_You should be helping the crew however you can, it's what any turian worthy of…"_

"_Well Dad, as you and I have both said before, I'm not a very good turian."_

"Attention all hands!" Kaidan's voice came over the intercom, snapping Garrus out of his imaginary dialogue. The Major had solemnly taken command of the Normandy, and was doing his best to keep morale up. However, this time there was a tone of urgency in his voice that Garrus didn't like. "Multiple Reaper signatures on intercept course, all hands to battle stations!"

Garrus couldn't help it. He laughed as he got off his bar stool and readied himself for the run to the forward batteries.

"Well Shepard, get me a round in." He said. "I'll be there in five."

* * *

Joker was furiously tapping controls as the Reapers closed in. There were two, on an intercept course.

"EDI?" Joker called out.

"Our mass effect core is offline, primary thrusters are online. Kinetic barriers at 17%."

"Weapons?"

"Fully operational, Thanix cannon charging."

"Then let's give 'em Hell!" Kaidan interjected. "If we're going down, we might as well go down all guns blazing."

"Firing!" Joker yelled, as the mass effect cannon blast surged towards one of the Reapers, only to be dissipated by the Reaper's shields.

"Zero effect on target." Joker sighed.

"Major, sensors show that while the Reapers shields are at maximum, they are not charging weapons, or undertaking offensive manoeuvres." EDI stated.

The intercom buzzed.

"Sir," Specialist Traynor started, "we're being hailed… by the Reapers."

Kaidan and Joker shared a concerned glance.

"Put them through Traynor." Kaidan replied. "Relay the channel on all decks."

Garrus heard the intercom crackle as he dashed around the forward battery.

"All hands," Traynor's voice came through, "we have been hailed by the Reapers. Patching in all decks."

"_ALLIANCE VESSEL NORMANDY."_ A booming, synthetic voice began. _"YOU ARE TO BE ESCORTED BACK TO EARTH. LOWER YOUR KINETIC BARRIERS AND PREPARE FOR FASTER THAN LIGHT TRAVEL."_

"Bullshit." Kaidan replied. "If you're going to kill us anyway, why bother taking us back to Earth?"

"_THE CYCLE HAS BEEN BROKEN. AS SUCH, ALL HOSTILE ACTION HAS CEASED."_

"Wait a minute…" Garrus muttered to himself as he tapped into the comm.

"Is this Harbinger?" Garrus asked.

"_AFFIRMATIVE, THIS IS THE CONTRUCT THAT WAS ONCE KNOWN AS HARBINGER."_

"Right, so the construct that once threatened to swat us like flies and claimed to be our salvation through destruction wishes us no harm." Garrus probed, perplexed by the unexpected turn of events.

"_AFFIRMATIVE. FOR THE PURPOSES OF CLARIFICATION, WE SUGGEST YOU CONFER WITH ALLIANCE COMMAND. OUR LONG RANGE SENSOR NETWORKS SHOW THAT HUMAN ALLIANCE ADMIRAL STEPHEN HACKETT WILL ARRIVE IN 8 MINUTES BY FTL."_

With that, Harbinger cut the communication. Garrus shook his head as he proceeded to the bridge.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Garrus asked as he stepped on to the bridge.

"No idea," Kaidan replied, "but he wasn't lying. The SSV Orizaba is on the approach, I imagine Admiral Hackett is onboard."

"The Orizaba?" A voice came from behind them. Garrus, Kaidan and Joker turned to see Tali hastening to the bridge. "That's Shepard's mother's vessel!" She finished brightly.

"Yeah…" Kaidan said, quietly. He shared a look with Garrus. The two military veterans knew that Hannah Shepard would more than likely be here to be the bearer of bad news rather than good news.

A flash of light signalled the arrival Orizaba.

"Incoming signal, patching it through." Joker reported.

Admiral Hackett appeared onscreen. Garrus looked back at Tali to see her deflate slightly. A part of him had hoped to see Shepard too.

"Greetings Major." He began. "Glad to see you're all in one piece."

"Thank you, Admiral." Kaidan replied politely.

"Skip the pleasantries." Garrus interrupted. "We're in urgent need of a sitrep."

"As you wish, Field Marshal." Admiral Hackett nodded. Garrus flinched. He was worryingly high up the chain of succession these days. "It seems the Reapers have had undergone some kind of paradigm-shift. Their ground forces have ceased all hostilities and begun minor repairs and clean-up, while Reaper capital ships are reinforcing infrastructure and buildings. They even respond to orders from our ground teams."

"That's… disturbing." The Major ventured.

"Agreed Major," the Admiral replied, "but we need all the help we can get. Tuchanka and Palaven have reported the same activity. Reapers have also touched down on Rannoch-"

"What?" Tali exploded. "My people joined the combined assault to make sure that never happened!"

"Your Admiralty Board and the Consensus requested their aid Admiral Zorah." Hackett responded. "You've got a planet to build pretty much from scratch."

Liara suddenly appeared in the comm.

"What of Thessia?" She asked.

"As far as we understand, your colonies are doing well, but Thessia is damn near a total loss. The remaining survivors main concern right now is food and water, which the Reapers and the Alliance are providing as much as possible. The Reapers hit so hard, we estimate it will be around 15 years before Thessia will return to its former state, even with Reaper help."

"And… Shepard?" Liara asked.

Hackett was quiet for a moment.

"Captain Shepard wishes to come aboard." He replied. "Permission to dock?"

"Granted." Kaidan replied.

That was it. The airlock opened, and Hannah Shepard stepped out to meet Tali. They shared some words, and Tali collapsed, sobbing into the elder Shepard's embrace.

* * *

Shepard was confirmed KIA. The fact taunted Garrus as he downed yet another brandy.

"You know," came a voice from next to him, "I believe that brandy is more a drink for savouring than downing in one."

Garrus turned to see the Shadow Broker herself, smiling a half smile at him.

"I was never much of a connoisseur." He replied, helping himself to a refill. Liara strode past him, taking a seat to his left. She poured herself a glass of Earth wine from a nearby bottle. After she set it down, Garrus examined it.

"Merlott?" He ventured.

"I believe it's pronounced Mer_low_." She replied, taking a sip. Garrus chuckled as he returned to his brandy. The doors to the lounge opened to reveal Tali.

"Hi." She said, meekly. Garrus desperately thought for something to break the ice.

"Admiral!" He greeted her with a mock salute. She let out a small chuckle before returning the salute.

"Field Marshal." She replied, taking the seat to his right. She poured a glass of the brandy for herself before preparing a straw.

"Ugh, forget this." Tali began as she fiddled with her straw. She raised her hands to her mask and released the clamps with a pneumatic hiss.

The asari and the turian recoiled in shock.

"Tali, are you sure that's wise?" Liara ventured. Tali turned to her companions, seeing them for the first time.

"No." She replied, her voice seeming more melodious without passing through the filter. "But my resistance is high enough now that I'm only risking a half-day in the med bay."

She removed her whole helmet, and let her long, wavy black hair cascade down her back.

"Wow." Garrus exclaimed.

She took an awkward sip from her brandy. Garrus realised it was the first time she'd ever drunk anything from a container without a straw. Silence fell and lingered for a while between the three.

"So." He began. "Friendly neighbourhood Reapers?"

"I know." Liara began. "In my head it feels wrong. But…"

"But what?" Garrus asked.

"Well, when I looked out the cockpit window, right at Harbinger… it just seemed kind of…"

"Right?" Tali suggested.

"Yes." Liara replied. "I know that must seem strange."

"I felt it too." Tali said.

"Tali, do you… want to talk? About Shepard?" Garrus asked.

"I love him, and always will." Tali started. "But this isn't the first time someone has told me that he is confirmed KIA. I'm either right, in which case he'll find his way back to me, or I'm wrong, and we'll meet in the next life. In the meantime, I have one society to rebuild, a peace treaty to formally negotiate and the co-ordination of the largest fleet in the galaxy to keep me occupied."

Liara and Garrus shared a sceptical look.

"OK." Liara replied. "But, if you need anything…"

"I know Liara, thank you." Tali said, with warmth, but a tone of finality. Subject closed.

The three fell into companionable silence. Garrus resumed his earlier deliberations.

"_Tali'Zorah without Shepard is the Admiral. Liara T'Soni without Shepard is the Shadow Broker. Vakarian without Shepard is what?" _Garrus mused. _"Field Marshal Vakarian? Specialist? Officer?"_

Then it hit him. He thought back last time Shepard was dead, with no chance of return. Maybe, knowing what he knew now, with his greater grasp of leadership and sacrifice, it could work out. He could maybe do some good once more.

"_Vakarian without Shepard is Archangel."_


	2. Chapter 2

The Return of Archangel

Chapter Two

_The Citadel, Immediately Prior to the Battle of London_

Aria T'Loak had never believed that there were such places as Heaven or Hell. She had named her beloved nightclub on Omega 'Afterlife' for that very reason: the only life you had was the one you were living right now, and having the very best times in your life were the closest you would ever get to seeing Heaven.

She was at least half right, because there was no denying it as she took in the destruction before her: Hell was real.

The Reapers had arrived at the Citadel _en masse_, dispensing thousands of shock troops on to the station, while simultaneously moving the station itself using powerful mass effect fields.

The floors were slick with the blood of multiple species, limbs discarded carelessly by husks and cannibals. The power was failing, making the overhead lighting blink on and off, making the situation even more eerie.

C-Sec had been annihilated by the Reapers overwhelmingly powerful ground forces. The air was thick with screams, and the resonating thunderous blasts of ravage fire.

Aria had killed before, but it was always business. Shadow Broker agents or mercenary bands were her usual fare. This however was genocide. Absolute slaughter on a massive scale.

Another scream, shook Aria from her reverie. This scream was different: singular, close. Aria whirled around. A cannibal was looming over a small asari girl, arms drawn back, ready to strike. The asari child closed her eyes tight, expecting the end, but the end never came.

Aria charged her biotic field and held the cannibal aloft, before vengefully slamming it down. Her rage building, she threw it from wall to wall, sickening cracks punctuating her strikes. She continued smashing the Reaper drone into the floor, slamming it repeatedly, her biotic powers spiking.

"ARIA!" A voice boomed out.

Snapping out of her momentary bloodlust, Aria turned round to investigate. Her newest bodyguard, a turian employed when she reached the Citadel as a refugee, was standing behind her, his old army-issued Phaeston assault rifle primed and ready.

"Xihlus?" She queried. "I thought I told you to get to the ship!"

"As highly as I rate myself in combat, we're never going to survive this trip if both of us go solo, we'll have a better chance if we stick together." He replied. Normally, such a glib response would have been met with extreme force from the so-called Queen of Omega, but this was not the time. Besides which, he had a point. Aria made her way over to the girl and scooped her up into her arms.

"OK," Aria relented, "let's go."

* * *

Armando Bailey grimaced as he reloaded his Paladin heavy pistol. C-Sec was in pieces, the Citadel was being dragged through space and he'd seen refugees slaughtered in such a way that he'd have nightmares for the rest of his life, not that that would be very long. To top it off, he had been shot twice in the past half hour, as well as worsening the damage caused by his injuries during the Cerberus coup.

He'd been forced to split up with Kolyat Krios back in Zakera ward. While Bailey was determined to get to the docking bay and prevent the Reapers from landing more ground troops, the young drell had run off to fight the Reapers head-on. Bailey and his remaining officers made their way slowly to the docking bay, only to be picked off one-by-one.

Bailey looked round the corner. Two cannibals and a husk were picking over the corpses of what appeared to be a turian family. Bailey gritted his teeth as he unclipped his last grenade. He tossed it into the room, quickly ducking back round the corner. The wall he was leaning against shook as the explosive detonated. He readied his gun as he moved into the room, ready to pick off any stragglers.

The husk and the cannibals were no more. Bailey sighed as he holstered his weapon, and proceeded to the terminal. He punched in some commands.

'_INITIATE FULL LOCKDOWN OF DOCKING BAY?'_ The display prompted.

Bailey paused as a thought occurred to him. If he locked down the docking bay, Reapers wouldn't be able to get in, but any refugees who made it this far wouldn't be able to get out to their own ships, and possibly escape. People already in the docking bay had managed to escape when the Reapers arrived. Presumably, the capital ships moving the Citadel were too busy to deal with a few transport vessels.

"Shit." Bailey exclaimed, as indecision overtook him. "Shit, SHIT!"

* * *

Xihlus kept up suppressing fire as he and Aria made their way to the docking bays. Aria was able to produce biotic throws with her free arm while she kept the asari girl close to her chest, and his Phaeston was doing a pretty good job of keeping the husks at bay.

The horrors throughout the corridors were never-ending, with every corner unleashing a new nightmare. Xihlus and Aria helped where they could, leading Xihlus to note that the Queen of Omega wasn't such a heartless bitch after all. They had already saved a small group of humans from husks, and helped some C-Sec officers take down some cannibals trying to get to one of the larger groups of refugees. However, the worst was still to come.

Aria's group was making good progress. Xihlus reckoned there was around half a mile to go to the docking cradle containing Aria's newly-purchased ship. Holding the Terminus mercenary bands in the palm of her hand turned out to be very profitable, even in such desperate times.

A vicious, piercing war cry stopped them in their tracks. Xihlus turned to his employer.

"Is that a Banshee?" Aria asked, her voice low. Xihlus merely nodded in response.

"It's right in our path, and this is the only way to the fucking bay that won't take us a million years." He spat.

Another scream pierced the air, but this was different. Aria and Xihlus peered into the hallway.

A Banshee had impaled a young human woman with its talons, cradling her head with its free hand. Aria shuddered. Like all asari, the Reaper variants constructed of asari sickened her. She looked to Xihlus, and was surprised to see his face contorted with rage this time, as he loaded a fresh thermal clip into his assault rifle. It was sad, she agreed, but they had seen far worse mere moments ago. Had she missed something?

She looked back, and immediately spotted what had enraged Xihlus so much. A human infant – no – a human _baby_ was laying, wailing, on the floor. It was possible the banshee hadn't spotted it as it slaughtered the child's mother.

"Shit, Xihlus, wait!" She exclaimed, but it was too late. Xihlus had stood, battle-ready, and begun firing at the banshee. The constant stream of fire started to drain the banshee's barriers as Xihlus readied an overload, unleashing it with a scowl on his face.

The banshee definitely took notice as its barriers were drained. The human woman slumped off its claws and collapsed to the ground. The banshee began charging, warping from spot to spot as it replenished its barriers. Xihlus managed to get some shots in, but the semi-random nature of the banshee's movements made it difficult to do any real damage: Xihlus was in big trouble.

"Shit." Aria exclaimed under her breath as she set the young asari down. "Stay here." She commanded as the little asari stared up at her.

Wasting no time, Aria unleashed a biotic charge right at the banshee, momentarily knocking it off balance. She leapt back gracefully so that she was out of range of its talons as it turned to face her, and Xihlus took the opportunity to unleash a volley of fire right into its back. Aria grabbed her twin pistols and started firing as her biotics recharged. The banshee's defeat seemed certain, until it pulled out the last trick in its arsenal.

The mutated Asari hunched down, charging power, then unleashed it all at once. Xihlus and Aria were thrown in opposite directions, hitting the walls of the corridor hard. Aria looked around, Xihlus had been knocked unconscious by the biotic shockwave, and the banshee was advancing on her. The banshee drew back its arm as it looked at the asari, and Aria looked on.

"This is what I get for being a good Samaritan." Aria whispered, preparing for the worst.

There was a loud bang as the Banshee's head exploded and it slumped to the floor. With nowhere to go, its own intense biotic energy cremated it, sending wisps of ash into the air.

Aria looked for her rescuer. Xihlus was only now stirring. She turned to the left to see a uniformed drell holstering a Phalanx heavy pistol. Without turning to look at her, he ran to the human woman on the floor. Aria dusted herself off and ran to Xihlus.

"Nice going turian." She smirked. "They teach you how to run in blind and get knocked unconscious in turian boot camp?" She extended a hand to help him up.

"Yep." He replied, groaning. "First day, right before lunch."

They crossed over to the human woman, and the drell kneeling over her. She stirred slightly.

"Shit, she's still alive?" Aria asked, surprised.

"Yes, but she doesn't have much time." The drell said somberly.

"Ethan.." She whispered. "Where's… Ethan?"

"Who is Ethan?" The drell asked softly.

"My baby." She replied, a tear running slowly down her face.

Aria felt something nudging her leg. She turned to see the little asari holding the baby tightly. Aria gently pushed her toward the drell, who took the baby from her carefully.

"He's here." The drell said, gently passing the baby to his mother.

"Oh, thank goodness." She sighed, stroking the baby's head as she kissed his forehead gently.

Aria was instantly transported back to the day Liselle was born, and how she felt as she held her for the first time. She looked down at the woman's abdomen. The drell was right, she was bleeding out fast. More than ever, Aria hoped that Shepard was going to stick it to the Reapers, and make it fucking hurt.

Aria kneeled down next to the drell, and spoke to the dying human, running her fingers through her hair.

"I'll look after Ethan for you sweetheart, I promise. No harm will come to him on my watch." Aria said softly, trying to be as soothing as she could.

"Thank you." The woman said weakly. She gave the baby boy one last kiss as she closed her eyes.

"I love you." She said softly.

Aria took the baby from his dead mother.

"Kalahira, wash the sins from this one, and set her on the distant shore of the infinite spirit." The drell said, his hands clasped in prayer. He turned to face Aria and Xihlus.

"My name is Kolyat Krios." He said. "I suggest we leave."


	3. Chapter 3

The Return of Archangel

Chapter Three

The persistent screams had died down somewhat as Aria's group were nearing the docking bay. The Reapers were apparently doing what they did best. Resistance was also increasing the closer the group travelled to their destination. Aria was exhausted: as powerful as she undoubtedly was, she was not used to using her powers as repeatedly as this in such a short time since her commando days. She made a mental note to get her ass back in training.

She looked down at the little asari as she ran. The child was steely-eyed as she faced the destruction all around her. Aria wondered what horrors the child had seen over the past few months. Had she seen her parents slaughtered? Her sisters? Whatever she had seen, she seemed almost impervious to it now. Aria noted that in fact the youngest member of her little group had been the only one with the presence of mind to pick up Ethan off the floor.

"Guys, stop." Aria commanded. Xihlus and Kolyat turned to face her. Kolyat cradling the infant in one arm.

"What?" Xihlus queried.

"This is ridiculous. You, drell, you can't even reload your pistol carrying the boy." She stated.

"What do you suggest?" Kolyat asked, slightly irritated by Aria's use of his species name.

"We form a defensive triangle, with the girl in the middle, and the three of us at each point. The girl can hold the baby, she already knows how, and we're free to fight at our best." Aria explained. She looked down at the little girl in her arms, and smiled as she gave a determined nod.

Aria set the girl down, and Kolyat handed her Ethan gently. The young asari cradled the baby soothingly – he had been crying since Aria took him from his mother. Seemingly miraculously, the baby stopped his screaming and shifted slightly, seemingly content for now.

"Positions!" Aria commanded. The three shifted into the makeshift triangle just in time; a very large group of husks were on their way.

"Drell," she began, "you got biotics?"

"Some," he replied, "I'm not as strong as my father was."

Aria made a mental note. Clearly Krios was indeed a family name.

"OK, up front with me, Xihlus, you're the rearguard. We stay still until we've dealt with these husks, then change positions with Krios for the final push!" She commanded.

Aria charged her biotics, and the air shimmered and crackled with energy as the husks closed in.

"OK motherfuckers." She growled. "Time to send you back to hell."

* * *

Bailey watched from the maintenance catwalks as more husks streamed in through the docking bays. His decision to leave them open had paid off though, as at least seven well armoured groups had made it off the station. Also, when Reaper reinforcements did arrive, they didn't linger, running off straight into the depths of the station, leaving the docking bays relatively clear.

Bailey didn't even contemplate leaving himself. He'd already made up his mind to die here. The security of this station was his responsibility, and he'd failed. The rational part of his mind argued with that statement. Shepard himself wouldn't have done much better against such an overwhelming force. The Citadel had indeed been an illusion all along: it was no more safe than Earth itself.

There was a commotion coming from down the hall. Lots of voices shouting orders and a cacophony of weapons fire. Bailey ran to the ladder and slid down, running to the voices to lend assistance when he stopped, mouth agape.

Maybe a hundred turians were slowly progressing to the docking bay, decimating husks and cannibals, leaving strewn Reaper parts in their wake. Bailey saw flashes of C-Sec uniforms, army fatigues and civilian clothing in the huge, well-ordered group. The very young and the injured were protected in the perimeter by the able bodied, who were mercilessly cutting down the opposing force. Bailey even spotted a few salarians, asari and volus in the mix, as well as an odd human.

The most bewildering part was the massive elcor in the centre, blasting the specialised Reapers with a mass accelerator cannon strapped to its back. The non-combatants were handing weapons to the defensive perimeter, reloading and applying mods to help out. The mix of cultures were very much a well-oiled force, no doubt due to the bulk being composed of the war-savvy turians.

"Commander Bailey!" A turian C-Sec officer yelled. "Is the coast clear?"

Bailey looked behind him: not a Reaper in sight.

"All clear, move up!" Bailey responded.

On Bailey's command, the group broke formation at the doorway. The civilian support stuffed thermal clips into the pockets of the soldiers protecting them and made the break for the transports.

Bailey smiled as the civilians poured into the available transports, readying them for take-off. Slowly, the soldiers started to fall back too, but there was a problem. Such a large force had attracted a lot of attention, and ammunition was running low. Bailey joined the fight, picking off husks with his pistol. Bailey was then shocked to hear a familiar voice.

"Fall back to the other side of the doorway men!" Councilor Sparatus commanded, unloading an M-8 Avenger fully into a group of approaching cannibals. Bailey was stunned, the Councillor had made it all the way from the Presidium? Bailey chose the wrong moment to turn from the fight. A cannibal took steady aim at the Commander's head and fired.

Bailey was stunned as he was thrown to the floor by an invisible force. He turned to see Councillor Valern uncloak next to him as a bullet whizzed over his head. The salarian dragged Bailey behind a wall and collapsed in exhaustion next to him.

"Councillor?" Bailey queried.

"Sparatus is quite the leader, no?" Valern replied. "Our emergency pods in the Presidium would have fired us straight into the path of the capital ships, so we elected to come down here. With such a long way to go, we picked up a lot of people on the way, and the turians we came across were only too eager to aid their Councillor."

Bailey noted the Councillor was shivering. He wasn't the most battle-ready of the Council by a long stretch, and had been shaken badly by the Cerberus coup. Nevertheless, he had been brave enough to save Bailey's life just now.

"What about Tevos?" Bailey asked.

"We don't know." The Salarian councillor replied, shaking his head. "But, she wasn't far away from the docking bays when this whole thing started, there is a high possibility that she made it off the station."

Bailey frowned. The Asari councillor had been pushed to the brink of insanity by the loss of Thessia. While he hoped she survived, she could more of a hindrance than a help to other refugees.

The soldiers had slowly pulled back through the doorway. Sparatus crossed to Valern and extended his hand. Valern grabbed it and Sparatus heaved him up.

"Let's go Valern." The Councillor said quickly. "Commander? Are you coming?"

"No," Bailey replied, "I'll cover your escape and wait for any more survivors."

"I appreciate the thought." Sparatus replied, "but the approaching force is massive, and we're taking the last of the ships in this section."

"If you insist on staying," Valern continued, "take the maintenance catwalks to the next bay. I believe Aria T'Loak's ship is docked there, along with some other private vessels. If anyone could survive this mess, it's probably her."

"Thanks Councillor," Bailey said, as Sparatus helped him up, "I'm glad to see you both survived."

"We are glad to see you on your feet also, Commander." Valern replied. With that, he and Sparatus ran into the transport, along with the last soldiers. Bailey ran to the control panel, locking down the hatch.

He smiled, the Councillors were safe, as were dozens of civilians. He watched the ship launch, and engage its main thrusters. True to his earlier suspicions, the Reaper capital ships paid it no heed as it escaped, and the flash of its mass effect core signalled its departure. With all the ships in this bay gone, he locked down the area, preventing any more Reaper ground forces entering.

Bailey turned to the ladder, returning to the catwalks. He ran to the next bay, meeting no resistance as he did so. He smirked, clearly the Reapers weren't fans of ladders.

He entered the next bay. Sure enough, Aria's new ship, the _Indomitable_, was docked and waiting. As Bailey understood it, Aria had paid a pretty penny to have the Cerberus freighter boarded by Eclipse and the Blue Suns, and the crew wiped out. Aria even paid to have the ship repainted, making use of the refugees desperate for work. Supposedly the only Cerberus freighter of its kind, the ship packed quite a punch, having twin Thanix cannons installed underneath the bridge and the latest Alliance military targeting VIs.

To his surprise, the _Indomitable_ was the only ship remaining. He rushed to the console. Many of the other ships had indeed launched, though a couple of these bays had been empty. Refugees had been slowly leaving the Citadel as its resources were being drained.

Suddenly, Bailey felt a sharp pain as a spike appeared through his abdomen, and grey arms wrapped themselves around his neck. Bailey grabbed the husks arms and tried to shake it off. He idly noted the spike was a piece of debris, he hadn't thought husks were smart enough to injure their victims before pouncing.

Bailey shook wildly, trying to buck the husk off him to no avail. He ran back into a nearby wall, trying to shock it, but it seemed hopeless as the husks grip tightened. Bailey let go of its arms and grasped for its head, finding its neck instead. Somehow, the husks grip relaxed with the sudden feeling of strangulation, and Bailey managed to heave it off before collapsing, the pain in his side suddenly unbearable.

As Bailey reached for his pistol, wincing through the pain, the lone husk scrabbled to its feet, and began to charge.

* * *

With the last of the husks down, Xihlus and Kolyat switched places. The little asari was dutifully carrying the human baby as Aria and Xihlus cut down approaching Reapers, while Kolyat watched out for dangers coming from behind. Resistance was small as they approached the docking bay. Kolyat noted the sound of mass accelerator cannonfire in the distance about ten minutes previously. They were clearly not the only survivors of this mess.

Finally, they reached the docking bay. Quickly scanning the area, Aria grabbed the asari and the baby, breaking formation and bolting for the airlock, Xihlus and Kolyat in hot pursuit. Suddenly, Kolyat went flying as he tripped over a decapitated husk.

He exclaimed as he went down, the air knocked out of him. He rose to his feet and looked around for whoever killed the husk. Aria spotted him first.

"Xihlus, take the kids inside." She commanded as the airlock opened. He dutifully ushered the little asari inside and followed her in, assault rifle ready to deal with any dangers that could possibly be inside. Aria then rushed over to the unconscious human male lying on the floor, his pistol in his hand.

"Is that Commander Bailey?" She asked, as Kolyat joined her.

"Yes, it appears that husk managed to sneak up on him." Kolyat stated, frowning as he checked the commander for injuries. He grimaced as he caught sight of the spike protruding from a bloodied spot on Bailey's abdomen. "We have to get him on the ship."

"What, the chief cop on the citadel?" Aria scoffed. "Forget it kid. I'm taking you along because you happened to save my life, and your family connections are more than a bit intriguing."

"He saved _my_ life." Kolyat replied. "If not for him I'd be rotting in a prison cell. Take us both on board your ship, and consider your life debt to me repaid."

"I don't believe in life debts." Aria replied. "I was frankly just being courteous by not killing you when your back was turned."

"Glad to hear it." Kolyat replied, nonplussed, straining to lift Bailey into his arms.

Aria sighed as she used her biotics to lift the C-Sec commander.

"Let's go drell." She said, hearing Reapers approaching. "I'll save his life before I decide whether or not to kill him."

* * *

With Bailey in tow, Aria and Kolyat boarded the _Indomitable_, as husks poured into the docking bay. The airlocks locked down, and Aria rushed to the bridge.

"Computer," she said into the air, "begin start-up procedures."

"_Acknowledged, Aria_." The ships on-board computer replied as the ship's engines began to hum.

Xihlus was waiting for her when she arrived, already belted into the co-pilot's chair. Aria took the pilot's chair and began checking systems.

"I can't believe we survived that." She said, breathless. Xihlus didn't respond immediately.

"We haven't technically survived yet." The turian eventually replied, sternly. "The children are in the lounge. Sensors don't detect any life forms on board other than us." He informed her.

Aria nodded in response, taking the helm. The docking bay arm retracted from the ship, and Aria slowly manoeuvred the ship around.

"Analysis of the Reapers mass effect fields shows that we need to escape through precisely these co-ordinates." Xihlus said, punching them into the navigation computer.

"Computer, take the helm." Aria commanded. The computer was the only real option with a window this small.

"_Acknowledged._" The computer responded. There was some turbulence as they flew through the gap – the window was indeed small – but they made it to the other side. As they cleared the area, a huge orange-red gas giant planet was visible in the distance.

"That's Jupiter." Xihlus said. "One of the planets in the Sol system. The Reapers must be taking the Citadel to Earth."

"Hmm." Aria mused. "Well, that means one way or the other the end is near." She said, a dark look crossing her face.

"Set course for the Charon relay and engage mass effect core." She added, rising from the pilot's chair and heading for the lounge.

* * *

Hours later, Aria lay on the bed in her quarters. They had passed through the Omega relay, and were in orbit around Bindur, a planet in the Sahrabarik system close to the station. Attempting to get to Omega right at this second would be suicide. Cerberus still controlled the station, and in a stolen Cerberus prototype ship, she would be blasted out of the sky as soon as she approached.

The little asari stirred next to her. Aria had taken her to her quarters, while Kolyat took the human baby to the medical bay. Bailey was alive, and reasonably well. The med-bay was fortunately well-stocked. Also, Aria noted idly, a human male was more likely to know how to care for a human infant than anyone else on board.

Aria stroked the girls head. Her eyelids flickered in REM sleep as she tossed and turned. Aria had no doubt that there would be nightmares for years to come for the poor girl. Aria closed her eyes and softly melded with the girl, overpowering her subconscious, and withdrawing to leave the girl in a dreamless sleep.

As Aria broke the meld, the girl breathed what sounded like a sigh of relief, and slipped into a deep unconsciousness. Aria remembered doing the same to her daughter when she was little. At least the girl would be well rested whenever she woke.

Just as Aria closed her eyes, the ship rocked hard, as if hit by some kind of shockwave. A blinding blue light filled her vision momentarily, before everything returned to normal.

"Aria to Xihlus, what the hell was that?" She barked into the intercom.

"No idea, but we've got massive energy readings from the mass relay. That shockwave tore off onward though, there's no sign of it anymore." A pause. "Holy shit, now there's no energy reading at all from the mass relay. It's… broken?" He replied, uncertain.

Aria thought for a moment. The mass relays were destructible, the Aratoht incident proved that, but damageable?

"Systems?" She queried.

"All fine. Nothing to report." The turian responded, sounding perplexed.

"Fine then... I suppose. Aria out." Aria responded, laying back down. That shockwave was big news, she just knew it. Whatever that news was would have to wait though. Aria tried her best to clear her mind as she held the little girl close, and closed her eyes.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks to Sonata of Hades, always nice to know the story is being well received._


	4. Chapter 4

The Return of Archangel

Chapter 4

_SSV Normandy, 5 weeks after the Battle of London_

"Entering the Sahrabarik system now Garrus." Joker ventured over the comm.

Garrus smiled, though he was mindful of the risk the Major was taking. Hackett had declared Omega off-limits in the wake of the Battle of London. The Terminus fleets had broken off and fled back to the station during the battle, each eager to claim Omega for themselves. However, the hordes of now leaderless Cerberus units still held Omega's occupants under iron-fisted rule. As such, there were now three mercenary fleets spread through the system with the now impenetrable station in all their crosshairs. Aria T'Loak was presumed KIA – no-one had seen or heard from her since the Citadel was transported.

"Garrus, we've picked up something interesting on long-range scanners." The Major's voice buzzed through the main battery this time, he had clearly seen fit to take to the bridge. "There's a prototype Cerberus frigate in orbit around Bindur. Liara intercepted a message to the Illusive Man from the ship's captain saying that the ship had been boarded by pirates, then we didn't ever hear of it again."

"What's it's status?" Garrus asked.

"Thrusters are cold. Life is support minimal but operational. The Major is correct, it does indeed match the profile of the Cerberus Assault Frigate _Indomitable_." EDI replied. "Judging by the decay of the orbital path, it has been here for several weeks."

"Permission to ready a boarding party Major?" Garrus enquired.

"Granted." Alenko replied.

"Javik, suit up. Cerberus has laid a trap for us, let's spring it." Garrus commanded over the comm.

"Gladly." Came the Prothean's terse reply.

* * *

Having the greatest stealth ship in the galaxy at your disposal was a beautiful thing. Garrus and Javik looked up to see the planet Bindur 'overhead'. The airlock of the Normandy was open, exposed to the vacuum of space, and Garrus was about to attempt a manoeuvre he hadn't achieved since C-Sec academy.

The _Normandy_ was positioned directly above the _Indomitable_. Joker and EDI had taken care to move the ship so that they wouldn't be seen through the cockpit or any observation decks, but close enough for the party to attempt to board covertly.

"_Two people don't really constitute a party."_ Garrus noted drily to himself, as the Normandy stopped moving.

"OK, the Legion manoeuvre is complete." Joker laughed over the comm.

"Thanks Joker, ready Javik?" Garrus asked, turning to the helmeted Prothean.

"Ready." Javik responded.

Garrus nodded, and the two crouched in the airlock. Garrus looked over the edge. The hull of the _Indomitable_ was about thirty feet below them – Joker had done an exceptional job. The turian grabbed the ledge beneath his feet.

"On the count of three, we propel ourselves down." Garrus prompted. "Magnetise only when you make contact."

"Understood." The prothean replied. If they magnetised too quickly, the collision would send an audible shockwave through the ship, making their incredibly stealthy approach redundant.

"One… two… three." Garrus counted.

The two heaved themselves out of the airlock in what could only be described as a slow motion skydive. The hull approached slowly as the two 'fell' headfirst. They swung their legs down, orienting their drop so they would land feet-first. Javik made contact first, landing in a perfect crouch. His Omni-tool flashed and the soles of his boots adhered to the hull, clicking into place.

Garrus never got used to the silence of space. Turians weren't big swimmers either, so any change in pressure or gravity seemed completely alien at first. It was peaceful in an unsettling way – with no background noise to focus on except your own breathing.

A constant reminder that you were only a suit breach away from oblivion.

Garrus touched down a little more forcefully than he would have liked, but Javik didn't comment, so it hadn't been too bad. Garrus magnetised his boots and turned to the prothean.

"Release your line now." Garrus ordered as he did so himself. The prothean merely nodded as he unclipped his safety line, and the two watched as their lines were slowly retracted into the _Normandy_'s airlock.

"Boarding party is away," Joker's voice came in over the comm, "good hunting fellas."

"Copy that Joker." Garrus replied. "We're going in."

* * *

Turians weren't that bothered by the cold. For Xihlus, this was an evolutionary stroke of luck.

As he sat in the co-pilot's seat, wrapped in a blanket, he recalled his first posting as a cadet – Menae. Glorified security guard stuff really, but the thin atmosphere of Palaven's moon didn't allow for much heat retention, creating a great dealing of grumbling about the temperature among those posted there.

For the second time in his life, Xihlus found himself acting as a glorified security guard.

He exhaled slowly, the water vapour in his breath turning to a little cloud of steam. Sleep wasn't coming easily to the turian. His leather co-pilot seat was the most comfortable thing he'd ever sat in without a doubt, but having been sat in it for weeks now it had somewhat lost its allure.

Xihlus frowned as the display in front of him lit up. An unexpected heat emission had been detected above the ship. Xihlus dismissed the warning. With the unusual power requirements of the ship at its present time, these kind of readings had been cropping up a lot.

Xihlus checked the power levels of the currently working systems. The draw from the med-bay was massive, but the eezo-core would hold for at least three years. Xihlus sighed. At least the current state of affairs would only continue for another month.

* * *

The jarring sound of a bottle smashing reverberated through the ship, making the semi-conscious Xihlus leap out of his chair. He fumbled for his pistol and crouched in the open doorway, listening intently for any other sounds.

"_The only places where there are bottles on board are the med-bay and the mess."_ Xihlus recalled, taking in a deep breath. He slowly crept forward, restricting his breathing so as not to give away his position.

The lights in this section of the ship were not on, leaving the hallway pitch black. Xihlus cursed under his breath. If he turned the lights on now, any intruders would know he was on to them. He fumbled through the darkness, reaching the mess.

Another smashing sound came from the kitchen bar, feet away from where Xihlus was standing. The turian's heart was hammering. He was clearly not alone.

Xihlus turned on his mounted torch, flashing it immediately in the direction of the kitchen. His breath was loud and ragged now, his lungs demanding extra oxygen to deal with the situation. Visions of being impaled on the claws of a screaming banshee filled the turian's mind.

There was no sound in the pitch black room other than Xihlus' breathing. Xihlus drew the torch across the room slowly, terrified of what the beam of light might uncover. Suddenly, the turian was filled with a sense of dread. He brought his pistol close, turning to the left, and bringing the beam slowly upwards.

The creature had a frog like mouth at the base of its triangular head. Its four yellow eyes, each punctuated with bizarre binary pupils, glared at the shaking turian. Suddenly, the creature's mouth opened, sharp-looking white teeth illuminated nightmarishly by the light of the torch.

Xihlus leapt back with a scream, raising his gun to the creature's head. Suddenly, hands grabbed at the turian from behind, lifting his head, and a knife was swiftly placed at his throat.

"Turn the lights on." A voice in his ear growled. Xihlus swallowed nervously.

"L-lights on!" He yelped.

Suddenly, the mess, and the entire ship, were illuminated. The creature was now exposed in its full glory. Whatever it was, it wore body armour, and had an M-76 Revenant drawn and ready, pointed square at the turian's chest.

* * *

The knife left Xihlus' throat, and a blue armoured figure swung round, swiftly punching the turian in the throat.

Xihlus collapsed, wheezing, as the blue armoured figure removed it's helmet to reveal a heavily-scarred turian.

"Scary prothean." The newly-revealed turian chuckled. "Works every time."

"_Prothean? Is that what that thing is?"_ Xihlus wondered, still shaken.

"Prothe-" He began to ask, only to be kicked in the head by the turian.

"Who asked you?" The turian snarled. "While my scary friend here broke something and waited for you to find him, I tailed you all the way from the bridge. Then I snuck past you in the dark, broke something else while hiding behind that kitchen counter, then waited for you to shit yourself and turn your back. Now, I don't know who you are, or what you're doing on board this Cerberus vessel, but I do know this – you are fucking terrible at your job."

"As we beat you in total darkness, aboard your own ship, when you had the element of surprise, I concur." The creature – the prothean – added.

"Now," the turian began, raising a pistol to Xihlus head, "at this stage, the casualty list stands at two items of crockery. Do I need to add a turian?"

"No." Xihlus snarled.

"Good." The scarred turian responded, holstering his weapon. "I'm Garrus Vakarian, my scary friend here is Javik. The _SSV Normandy _is currently outside, waiting to blow this ship into nothingness, so I suggest you co-operate. You are?"

"Xihlus… Victus." The younger turian responded. The prothean and the older turian shared a glance.

"Yes." Xihlus nodded. "That Victus. I'm the Primarch's middle son."

"I thought you looked familiar…" Garrus nodded. "The deserter, right?"

Xihlus nodded grimly. Garrus let it go – it was clearly a story for another day.

"So, who do you work for now?"

Xihlus opened his mouth to answer, but was unexpectedly cut off.

"Garrus, I have overpowered the onboard VI and assumed control." EDI's voice came over the intercom.

"About time." Garrus smirked. "You need to stop writing 'Mrs. EDI Moreau' over and over in your notebook and start concentrating, you're getting sloppy."

"Not bad, for a turian." The AI responded. "I would respond, but the information I have uncovered in the ship's log is too important to delay."

Garrus frowned, this didn't sound good.

"Spill EDI." He commanded.

"The ship is registered to Aria T'Loak, and several interesting names are featured on the crew roster. I suggest you head to the med-bay."

* * *

"Fuck… me…" Garrus exclaimed as the door to the med-bay opened.

"It's kind of unbelievable, right?" Xihlus asked, appearing next to the elder turian.

"Three fully operational cryostasis units?" Garrus gasped. "On a frigate this size?"

"That's not all," Javik noted as he gestured to the opposite wall, "look over there."

On two very small beds lay an asari child and a human infant hooked up to medical equipment. Both appeared comatose.

"The kids are fine." Xihlus assured them.

"I'll take your word for it." Garrus said, unwilling to deal with the matter at that very second. He approached the cryo pods.

"A human, a drell and an asari." Javik informed Garrus as he looked over the console. "Initiating wake-up procedure."

The front protective panels of all three pods slid upwards with a hiss. Steam poured from the empty space as all three subjects fell forward, gasping. All of them dropped to their knees, panting hard.

"Well, well." Garrus smiled as he approached the human. "Good to see you on your feet Bailey – well, figuratively speaking."

Bailey took the turian's outstretched hand.

"Thanks Vakarian." The grizzled human replied as he heaved himself to his feet. "How are the kids?"

"Erm, fine, apparently." Garrus replied as Bailey crossed the room to check on its youngest occupants.

"Hello Mr. Vakarian." The drell greeted, lifting himself off the floor gracefully.

"Kolyat, right?" Garrus asked.

"Indeed. I'm glad to see a friend of my father's." The young drell responded. Garrus nodded as he calmly drew his pistol and pointed it at the head of the ship's captain.

"So, that just leaves you Aria." Garrus sighed, pistol pointed evenly at her head.

"Nice work Xihlus." Aria growled, raising her head to look at the weapon aimed at her, and the turian aiming it. "I leave you alone for a few weeks and you let Archangel himself aboard."


	5. Chapter 5

The Return of Archangel

Chapter 5

"Do you have any idea what's happening on Omega right now?" Aria enquired as she stared down the barrel of Archangel's gun.

"Really?" Garrus smirked. "That's your last request?"

"You're not going to shoot me Archangel." Aria said as she rose to her feet. "You know as well as I do that I'm the ideal candidate to run Omega."

Garrus let out a chuckle as Aria leaned against the pod, catching her breath. Coming out of cryo was quite disorienting – Javik could attest to that – but it seemed to have exhausted Aria. The sight of her in this state made even Archangel a little uneasy. Was the Pirate Queen still in there somewhere?

"_Normandy_, do you read?" Garrus asked, holding his earpiece close.

"Loud and clear, go ahead." Joker responded.

"Bring the ship in to dock and send Chakwas, Tali and Liara down here. Send the Major too if you can spare him." Garrus commanded.

"Acknowledged." The aforementioned Major replied over the comm, having been listening in.

* * *

"Do you know her name?" Liara asked Aria as the two looked at the little asari girl.

"No." Aria responded brusquely. "I saved her from Reaper ground forces on the Citadel. She's never spoken a word, but she helped out with the baby. I looked into her mind while she slept and quashed some nightmares."

"Such occurences were common in my cycle." A voice loomed from nearby. Javik was leaning against the nearby kitchen counter, watching the three asari almost disinterestedly.

"What occurences?" Aria asked, her usual authority starting to once again lace her voice. She had been shocked by the prothean herself at first, but accepted his presence much more readily than Xihlus, who couldn't stand being in the same room.

"Soldiers would see something truly horrifying, usually the brutal death of a child, but manage to continue on regardless. They would not speak, or do much more than follow orders, but they would fight on, unshakable and fearless. They would work like programmed synthetics, sleeping only when truly exhausted. Once they reached this stage, they would rarely survive more than a month. I once disposed of the body of a prothean who died in his sleep in this fashion. I did not believe such a death was possible as long as the Reapers existed." Javik explained.

Throughout his explanation, the little girl looked up at the elder asari as she sat on the examination table, seemingly carefree. Her steady breathing and the occasional blink were the only movements she made.

"Can we do anything to help her?" Liara asked the elder asari.

Aria shook her head sadly.

"No. A matriarch may know of something, or be telepathically powerful enough to help, but with Thessia gone…" Aria let the sentence linger. She noticed the younger woman bristle at the mention of the homeworld.

"Your telepathy was gifted to you by my people." Javik interjected, his tone almost boasting. "I may be able to aid this girl here and now."

The girl's eyes widened as the prothean extended his arm towards her and she leapt back on the bed, hugging her knees tightly to her chest.

"That won't work Javik." Liara rebuked him, crossly. "You'll need to work on your bedside manner."

"Irrelevant, this girl has to learn-" The prothean began.

"No she doesn't!" Liara cut him off, shrilly. "The Reapers have gone, it's over."

"The Reapers are not gone, asari." The prothean growled. "They have merely ceased hostilities."

Liara opened her mouth to continue her argument before being cut off by Aria, who had moved to sit next to the girl, wrapping her arms around her shaking form.

"Enough!" Aria shouted, exasperated. "One, what's the deal with the Reapers? Two, can you do something for the girl? And three, get a room and work this out!"

"We'll elaborate on the Reaper situation later." Liara replied, a blush spreading to her cheeks.

"I also do not believe finding a room in which to murder Doctor T'Soni would be justified." The prothean added, missing Aria's inference entirely.

He approached the child more slowly this time, palm outstretched.

"Take my hand child." He said, as softly as he could muster. "There are two asari here to protect you."

"It's OK." Aria whispered into the girl's ear as she held her tighter.

Tentatively, the little asari took the prothean's hand.

* * *

"Well Doc," Bailey began as he peered over Chakwas' shoulder, "how's the kid?"

"Quite well Commander Bailey." She replied as she gently cradled Ethan. "How did he come to be with you in the first place?"

"We saved him, Doctor." Kolyat Krios replied as he strode into the room. "Unfortunately, we could not do the same for his young mother." He added, sadly.

"I see." The Doctor nodded.

"I gotta say," Bailey started, "a drell, an asari and a turian risking life and limb to save a human kid. This war may have done the galaxy some good in the long run."

"A nice ideal." Kolyat replied. "But we're not at war any more. If supplies start to run low, I don't think we'll need to wait long before everyone turns against each other."

"Maybe not kid." Bailey replied. "But it's nice to bask in the glow of it for a while."

"Your turn Commander." Chakwas informed Bailey as she set down Ethan. "The child is fine, though he's maybe a little lighter than he should be."

"I'll get right on it." Bailey replied as he gently lifted himself onto the examination table, careful to avoid stretching the scar on his side from the husk attack.

"I imagine managing a human child is preferable to managing the council, Commander?" Kolyat asked.

"It's like a holiday." Bailey replied, wincing as Chakwas checked his stitches.

"Good work Mr. Krios." Chakwas commended the drell as she inspected his handiwork. "Ever thought of a career in medicine?"

"No." Kolyat replied truthfully.

"You've spent enough time on marksmanship and biotics." Bailey added. "Maybe time to study a bit more needlework."

"I'm not very sure what the future holds Commander." Kolyat replied truthfully. "With the Reapers still out there…"

"It's disconcerting," Chakwas replied, "but I don't believe the Reapers will resume hostilities."

"What's the full story there anyway?" Bailey asked.

"I'm sure Mr. Vakarian will be preparing a briefing once all of these medical matters are dealt with." Chakwas responded.

"Fair enough." Bailey responded, laying back as Chakwas activated a medical scanner. "Whatever the story, I didn't plan on living this long anyway."

* * *

"Well, what do you think?" Garrus asked Tali as she inspected the cryo-pods.

"Well, it's not exactly my field of expertise." Tali explained. "But treating them just as any regular sort of power drain, the ship must have an interesting infrastructure. I've asked EDI to dig up all the information she can from the main computer."

"Do you reckon there's any more of these ships out there?" Garrus enquired.

"That's a question for Liara." Tali responded as she shook her head.

Silence fell between the two for a while.

"So, when are you heading back to the flotilla?" Garrus broke the silence.

"You mean Rannoch?" Tali replied, humour in her voice.

"Sorry, force of habit." Garrus replied sheepishly.

"It's OK. As soon as the Normandy gets back to Earth. The Admirals have already got the fleet home now the relays are operational again. There's a Geth ship in orbit around Earth waiting to take me home." She responded.

"Not a lot of small talk going on there." Garrus smiled.

"Each Geth is a person now, just like us." Tali replied. "I'm sure I'll get asked a lot. I'm their Admiral too you know."

"Really?" Garrus asked, surprised. "They're under your leadership?"

"No." Tali shook her head. "But they maintain that Rannoch is shared by both races, not owned by either. As such, they respect our chain of command, and give us a measure of authority. Especially given the role in their history that me and Sh-." She cut herself off, biting her lip.

Garrus crossed the room, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Come on," he said, pulling her closer, "time for our briefing, _Admiral_."

"Yes sir, _Field Marshal_." She replied as they turned to leave.

* * *

Javik opened his eyes, suddenly squinting against bright sunlight. The elegant spires stretching out across the horizon burned, columns of black smoke billowing into the air. Harvesters filled the sky, their infernal screeching adding to the screams of a billion asari.

The prothean looked around, taking in the fall of Thessia once again.

"GO!" A male voiced yelled.

Javik turned to find the source of the command. A turian was firing an assault rifle into a crowd of approaching husks.

"_He is a fine shot."_ Javik noted as he took in the turian's aim and stance. _"A true soldier."_

Two teenage asari ran past him as he covered them, as well as an adult carrying a little girl.

"Girls, go, I'll cover you!" He yelled, taking down a husk with a perfect headshot.

"I won't leave you father!" One of the teenagers replied, blocking the approaching husks with a singularity.

"The transport is just over the hill!" He replied. "If I have to give my life to save my wife and all my daughters, so be it!"

The singularity fizzled out, only to be replaced with another by the other teenager.

"Father, don't be ridiculous!" The other daughter yelled.

"Tacitus!" The adult clutching the child yelled.

"Go Shianna!" The turian replied. "Get to the Citadel, find-"

The turian was cut off by a thunderous blast as a harvester landed behind the husks. He started to move back as the husks approached, now covered by the incoming fire from the harvester. Javik surmised that the turian now truly only had two choices: run or fight.

Either would likely result in his death. His wife and daughters' biotic abilities may save them if the transport was as close as he claimed.

The turian had chosen to fight, buying his family time.

"_An honourable death."_ Javik noted with some sadness.

"I'm buying you time to get to the transport, go!" Tacitus yelled. "Save the girls Shianna, I love you!"

With that, the turian turned, loading a fresh thermal clip into his weapon, unleashing a lethal volley of rounds at the approaching husks. The asari turned to flee, tears streaming down their faces. The turian continued to fire as a Javik began to move.

The turian was out of the girl's field of vision now, leaving his fate unknown to the observing prothean. It was disconcerting moving while standing still, but if the girl didn't see it, the prothean wouldn't be able to either.

The teenagers were launching biotic throws at lone reaper units as they proceeded up the hill. Sure enough, there was indeed a ship at the top of the hill.

"STOP!" Javik yelled, to no avail. He grit his teeth, this being merely a memory of the past, he had no hope of intervening.

The yellow and black diamond shaped insignia on the door disappeared as it opened, revealing a shotgun wielding Cerberus engineer. As the teenagers recoiled in surprise, he unloaded a shotgun blast into each of their chests.

The girl's mother fell backwards in shock, furiously shuffling backwards. The engineer moved to the side, revealing a human clad in black armour.

Suddenly, Javik was thrown backwards, his field of vision rapidly changing perspective over and over. He shook his head. Was something wrong with his connection to the girl?

The world suddenly righted itself as Javik realised what had happened. The mother had thrown the girl down the hill, desperate to keep her out of firing range of the Cerberus troopers. The girl jumped to her feet and immediately ran back up the hill.

About halfway up, the Cerberus shuttle lifted off, blasting off into the sky. The girl ran furiously to the top, legs driving her forward wildly. As she reached the top, the lone, black armoured figure was withdrawing his sword from the mother's chest.

"Mommy!" The girl screamed.

Kai Leng's head whipped around as he sheathed his sword. Javik growled at the memory of the Cerberus operative. The screech of a harvester suddenly penetrated the air. Leng fired up his shields as he turned to face the oncoming airborne attacker. Sizing up the threat, he fled, ignoring the girl, bolting off down the hill, and heading to the temple.

The harvester landed, screeching at the little girl. She stepped backwards frantically, slipping, and once again Javik's vision went haywire as she tumbled down the hill.

This time though, her head made contact with something hard at the bottom of the hill, and everything went dark. Javik focused on the connection, allowing him to 'fast-forward'.

The girl regained consciousness in the arms of an asari commando running for a transport. She was pulled onto the transport by another refugee. Checked for injuries during the flight to the Citadel. Fled the refugee camp when the Reapers arrived. Witnessed husks tearing apart other asari children on the Citadel. A cannibal raised its arm, ready to strike. Suddenly the imposing figure of Aria T'Loak stood over her, biotic field cloaking her in a blue glow against the darkness.

* * *

Javik blinked as he readjusted to the artificial light of the _Indomitable's_ mess hall, pushing the horrors to the back of his mind.

"I am not sure the girl's mutism can be cured." He announced to the other adults. "At least not by telepathic means."

"What did-" Liara began, before being cut off by a touch from Javik to her head, the prothean transferring the information rapidly.

Before Aria could react, Javik had crossed the room and done the same to her, filling her head with pictures and sounds at an incredible pace. The two elder asari took a few moments to review this newly acquired data.

"Goddess, was that really Kai Leng?" Liara asked, breaking the silence. "What are the chances?"

"Small." The prothean replied. "However, given the chaos on Thessia, I believe that it was likely coincidental. If Cerberus did specifically want the girl's family dead, tracking them on a Reaper invaded world would be a gargantuan task."

"It did seem to play out as bad luck rather than a trap." Liara mused.

"All of that is academic." Aria said in a low growl as she stroked the little girl's head. "What can we do for the girl now?" She asked slowly, punctuating each word with venom.

Liara and Javik shared a look before returning their gaze to the Pirate Queen, the look on Liara's face saying it all.

"So, absolutely nothing?" Aria guessed, rolling her eyes.

"I can attempt to find the girl's surviving family now I know her parents' names. I may also be able to find a record of the girl's birth. Name, age, etcetera." Liara ventured, somewhat embarrassed by the lack of help she could offer. "I must say Aria, I'm somewhat surprised at how much you care about the child. I would have thought that you would be drawing up battle plans to retake your beloved station."

"Don't pretend to know me or my intentions, Shadow Broker." Aria said darkly, gently setting down the girl, biotics flaring, and rising from the bench to approach the younger asari.

Liara took a tentative step backwards. Aria's warning was eerily similar to one given by the late Illusive Man.

"I'm not drawing up a battle plan because there is no fucking plan to be had." Aria snapped at Liara as she closed the gap between them. "This is one ship. One ship against three fleets, and an utterly infested station. I started as a dancer, killing and killing until I reached the top. Do you know why it was easy?"

Liara shook her head as Javik laughed. The prothean dared to venture a guess.

"Because you could get on to the station in the first place?" He asked.

"Exactly." Aria growled, her biotics dimming away. "I put the crew in stasis to ride out the current hopeless situation. Until that situation changes, there is no plan."

"I've got one."

Both asari and the prothean turned to the source of the noise. A blue-armoured turian was leaning against the doorframe.

"Care to hear it?" Garrus asked, a somewhat sinister smile stretching his scarred face.


	6. Chapter 6

The Return of Archangel

Chapter Six

_Sur'Kesh, 5 weeks after the Battle of London_

"This truly is quite excellent work." Padok Wiks complemented the young Salarian scientist whose experiment he was reviewing.

"Thank you, sir." The salarian replied graciously, a small smile gracing his lips.

"It's not really my area of expertise," Wiks continued, "but portable cloaking technology which can hide all heat emissions from a single unit is, well, unprecedented."

"Thank you, sir. I developed it after hearing feedback from infiltrator-class soldiers. They reported that sometimes they felt that Reaper ground units could detect their presence. Quite frankly, I believe such conclusions were a mixture of fear and paranoia, but nevertheless I felt it could use investigation." The scientist explained.

Padok Wiks continued to look over his datapad. He recoiled in shock as he looked over the costs.

"My goodness!" He exclaimed. "Who authorised this project?"

"Spectre Bau, sir." The scientist reported.

Wiks had known who had authorised the research, but appearances must be kept as they were for now. This young researcher's allegiance couldn't be verified by the Spectre or Wiks. Wiks momentarily took a bit of pride in his acting ability.

"Well, I suppose all that's left is to see it in action." Wiks suggested, crossing to the weapon locker and withdrawing a thermal scope attachment.

"Certainly sir, follow me." The scientist replied.

Wiks and the researcher made their way down to secure storage. The facility was rebuilding slowly but steadily after the Cerberus attack. The missing Yahg were proving to be somewhat of a headache in the vast rainforest surrounding the site, but the team lead by Major Dutch were doing their best to hunt down the predators.

After a brief walk, the pair stopped at a password restricted door. The young researcher keyed in the code.

"Well," he began, with something of a flourish, "here it is – the Walowitz Portable Stealth Drive!"

The door opened slowly, with Wiks almost expecting the young scientist to have installed a smoke machine for the reveal.

"Well." Wiks let out a sigh as he looked into the container. "It's clearly very stealthy."

The young scientist raised an eyebrow quizzically before breaking eye contact with his suddenly bemused superior. He let out a feminine squeal as he looked into the empty container. Wiks crossed the room to a console.

"Attention all hands, intruder alert." His voice suddenly boomed across the complex. He paused.

"Addendum: Intruder is in possession of the galaxy's most advanced portable stealth drive. So… just get on with whatever you're doing. Wiks out."

Wiks let out a long sigh.

"Go back to your workshop Walowitz." He commanded. "You've got a prototype to build."

* * *

The young thief groaned as she trekked through the jungles of Sur'Kesh. There were reptilian creatures _everywhere_ and thick vines and branches blocking her path. The stealth drive almost wasn't worth it.

"_Of course it's worth it._" She smiled. _"It's only another mile back to the shuttle. Then time to go home."_

She continued for a few steps, jumping over a fallen log.

"_Wherever that is."_ She mused, sadly.

Moving through the dense jungle was hard work. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

*CRACK*

Her head bolted to the source of the sound of the breaking twig. She wasn't moving, so that implied something else was moving around out here.

Wasting no time, the thief turned and swiftly climbed the tree she had been leaning against, taking a position on a branch overlooking her path.

"_STG isn't following me."_ She thought frantically as she recalled the voice she had heard over the intercom as she escaped. _"What the hell is out here?"_

She scanned the area from her vantage point, and froze.

A huge, hulking creature was standing at the base of the tree. It was impossibly muscular, and at least twice the size of a krogan. It had a strange, triangular mouth filled with sharp teeth and several rows of eyes. Its skin alone looked like it could rival heavy body armour.

"_That's definitely a Yahg."_ She confirmed to herself. _"On Sur'Kesh? What is it doing here?"_

Almost as if hearing her thoughts, the Yahg turned its gaze skyward, making direct eye contact with the cloaked human.

"_Oh my God."_ She panicked. _"It can see me. How can it see me? Can it actually see me?"_

A flash of movement caught the eye of the thief. Five salarians, guns drawn, were slowly making their way out of the undergrowth towards the distracted creature.

Frankly, she didn't rate their chances, even with the element of surprise. As she slowly moved her hand toward a flashbang grenade, she was unexpectedly spurred into action.

_Beep-beep. Beep-beep._

"Shit!" The thief exclaimed loudly to the approaching team and the Yahg as her flashing, beeping Omni-tool made her jump.

The thief decloaked and dropped her flashbang right in the Yahg's face, blinding its four rows of eyes all at once. The Yahg swung a muscled arm into the tree as the salarians opened fire, knocking its attacker off her perch and sending her plummeting back to the forest floor.

She hit the floor hard, knocking the air from her lungs. Groaning as stray bullets ricocheted above her head, she engaged her cloak and shields as she shakily rose to her feet. She started to run, not even looking back at the fight. As fast as her legs would carry her, she made it back to her shuttle.

The sounds of gunfire were still echoing through the rainforest as the thief closed the door to her shuttle and began lift off procedures. The Kodiak lurched as it began its ascent and engaged its limited stealth systems.

The shuttle picked up pace as it raced skyward, and the thief breathed a sigh of relief as the atmospheric turbulence passed.

"_Now, time to find out who sent that message so I can KILL THEM."_ The thief fumed as she activated her Omni-tool.

_Hope I'm not interrupting some thrilling tale of illegality. Come to Omega, I've got a job for you. – Garrus_

_P.S. Think of a number and double it. That's your fee._

"Well..." Kasumi said aloud as she laid in a course. "I think I can find it within myself to forgive him."

* * *

_Tuchanka, 5 weeks after the Battle of London_

"My apologies Urdnot Grunt." The salarian doctor began. "But, I'm afraid I have some bad news."

Grunt snorted in response. This salarian didn't know the meaning of bad news. Bad news was when the last brute has met its end by your Claymore, and command radios in to tell you there's nothing left to kill for miles around.

"Lay it on me, salarian." Grunt replied. "This metal table's freezing my ass off."

"I see." The doctor replied. "Then I'll get straight to the point – you are indeed infertile."

Speech wasn't a big thing for Grunt at the best of times, but never in his short life had he actually been rendered speechless – until now.

"It seems Warlord Okeer's priorities during your creation were focused mainly on four things; speed, strength, cellular regeneration and enhanced cognitive function. Well, enhanced for a krogan anyway."

Grunt registered the thinly veiled insult, but let it slide.

"However, procreation was clearly not, as the humans say, 'on the cards'. While your sexual organs are aesthetically functional, you do not have the ability to produce gametes of any kind. As such, your numerous breeding requests failed." The doctor paused. "I'm very sorry."

It made a certain kind of sense, Grunt realised, his father's words echoing through his ears.

"_With that, I will inflict upon the genophage the greatest insult an enemy can suffer. To be ignored."_

Procreation had never been part of Okeer's plan for his perfect krogan. To procreate, 'imperfect' DNA would have to mix with 'perfect' DNA to yield offspring. Any offspring would therefore be tainted in Okeer's eyes.

The doctor nodded curtly, and left to attend to his other patients. Grunt slid off the examination table, slowly making his way to his armour.

With his armour fitted and secured, he trudged out of the examination room, through the hospital reception and out through the main entrance. The bright Tuchanka sunshine immediately hit his eyes.

As he stood to readjust, he looked around the newly refurbished plaza. Krogan females and males were milling around, many of the females carrying infants. Grunt heard water splashing and turned his head. Two children – pre-cure children – were playing in a fountain.

Much had changed since Shepard and the Salarian had cured the genophage. The krogan had hope once more. Urdnot tied all the clans to its banner, though all clans remained intact. Wrex and Bakara kept the population in check, with the females having a greater role in society than ever before. A female krogan even stood as newest member of the council, reporting directly to Wrex. The other councillors, minus the asari representative, had settled on Admiral Hackett's flagship after their escape from the Citadel. Grunt had heard that the turian councillor, Sparatus, had proven himself in battle as the Citadel was invaded, saving many refugees.

"_For a politician, he's certainly got a quad."_ Grunt mused.

Grunt hadn't been sure about the cure at first. The only one who really knew anything about the cure was dead. However, the now large number of pregnant females and healthy fetuses didn't lie. Coupled with the looming civil war on Sur'Kesh regarding the cure, and the pro-krogan stance of Palaven's primarch, Grunt's bad feelings on the matter were eased somewhat. Hell, there were even krogan statues erected on Palaven after the Reapers ceased their attack.

The Battle of London had been the highlight of his life. Alliance soldiers still told stories about the krogan super-soldier who tore off a Banshee's head with his bare hands. An asari commando unit owed their lives to the lone krogan, who impaled a brute with the barrel of a broken mass-accelerator cannon, before decapitating it at point blank range with a blast from his Claymore.

With these stories of victory came disappointment. Wrex, hearing that the Alliance team escorting Shepard was in trouble, gave Grunt permission to go solo in an attempt to provide assistance. But by the time he reached them, all he saw was the beam to the Citadel switch off, and Harbinger lifting off to re-join the battle against Sword. Despite his now close relationship with Wrex, Grunt always thought of Shepard as his Battlemaster. Whatever Shepard did, the Reapers stopped.

"_Maybe he terrified the Reapers into submission."_ Grunt pondered, considering it a very real possibility.

The children splashing broke Grunt's train of thought. The only certainty was this. He was made pre-cure, to be the best in a genophage stricken society. Post-cure, he would never sire children of his own, and that thought stirred nothing in him. He was made to fight, and kill, and nothing more.

He would never fit in here.

An irritating beeping sound blared from the pensive krogan's wrist. Grunt slapped the big glowing button on his Omni-tool in frustration. An e-mail screen was instantly projected from the holograph generator. The krogan took in the message and let out a low, rumbling laugh.

"_Omega. Bring guns. – Vakarian."_

* * *

_French Polynesia, Earth – 5 weeks after the Battle of London_

Seagulls swooped lazily around the sky as the sun started its daily descent into the horizon. The breeze was soft and soothing in this deserted vista. The sound of the waves lapping against the shore was almost hypnotic, a never-ending rhythm that would cycle on, endlessly.

This particular beach stretched on for miles. This coastal section of French Polynesia had been untouched by the Reapers, and there were never enough resources to sustain a sizable refugee population here. Only someone who needed very little to get by, and could remain largely independent, would ever bother coming here.

As such, there was no-one for miles around.

No Blue Suns, no Reapers. No Eclipse, no Blood Pack. No bullets to dodge, no vengeance to be had.

However, that also meant no asari dancers. No blackjack. No poker. No bar fights. No targets. No hunt. No women. No pounding bass-lines in seedy, poorly lit clubs. No… life.

The lone occupant of the secluded cove drained the last drops of precious liquid from his only remaining beer bottle.

"Fuck this." Zaeed Massani said to no-one in particular, angrily throwing the bottle into the ocean before irritably slumping back into his deckchair.

The squawking seagulls were starting to piss him off too. Zaeed grabbed Jessie from her customary place leaning on his deckchair and started taking potshots at the noisy vermin while seated, to infuriatingly little effect.

Zaeed yelled a war cry, jumping up from his deckchair. He nestled Jessie firmly into his shoulder as he took better aim at the birds. A few rounds made their way skywards, before the grizzled mercenary heard an ominous clicking sound, and no more bullets took flight.

"… the fuck?" Zaeed pondered aloud as he looked down at the battered rifle. He gave the rifle a few good whacks with the palm of his hand. Upon pulling the trigger again, the clicking resumed unabated.

Zaeed angrily threw the rifle into the sand. Rounds weren't being loaded into the chamber, and it would take hours to investigate and fix. Time Zaeed didn't have. The mercenary slumped into his chair once more.

"The problem is that I have too much fucking time." Zaeed informed the empty space around him.

The rifle had landed in the sand so forcefully it had dug in deeply enough to stand vertically. Zaeed looked at the weapon angrily as he lit a cigar.

"Don't look at me like that." He growled at the inanimate firearm.

In Zaeed's mind, the gun continued to glare at him.

"OK, fine, I get it." The mercenary relented. "I start shooting at wildlife, so you jam because it isn't worth your time."

Jessie continued her silent stare.

"Well what do you want from me, Jessie?" Zaeed growled. "I made damn sure that very few people believe me to be alive. Dead mercenaries don't get many contracts."

Jessie raised an imaginary eyebrow.

"Fine, the Normandy lot know I'm alive. But, in case you hadn't heard, Shepard's dead." Zaeed continued. "And yes, sticking it to the Collectors and being on that crew was a lot better than I let on to anyone else. But Vido's dead, and so is the Illusive Man, so revenge against anyone is off the table."

He took a big drag of his cigar. Jessie was still staring.

"OK, yes. Cerberus as a fighting force are still out there, and yes, it might be fun to take them out one by one."

His gun wouldn't let up, continuing her staring match.

"And yes, ridding the galaxy of the Blue Suns is, arguably, my responsibility. But I'm not going to just have an opportunity fall right into my lap, am I?"

_Beep-beep. Beep-beep._

Zaeed looked around in confusion before checking his wrist. A new e-mail had arrived. He pressed the flashing button curiously.

"_Omega. Time to be a big goddamn hero again. – Vakarian."_

Zaeed rose from his chair, slowly crossing the sandy beach to where he had impaled it with his rifle. He drew it gently out of the sand, giving it one last whack with the palm of his hand, clearing the sand from the barrel.

He looked out across the ocean as he carefully took aim and squeezed the trigger. High velocity rounds tore through the air, creating huge splashes as they met the water. Zaeed smirked. It looked like Jessie's hissy fit was over.

He attached the rifle to the magnetic clamp on his armour, and took a last drag from his cigar. His tobacco craving sated, he discarded the burning stub into the golden sand and started his trek up the beach.


	7. Chapter 7

The Return of Archangel

Chapter Seven

_Cerberus Frigate Victorious, 6 weeks after the Battle of London_

"Captain Tarrant, sir." A soldier saluted as the captain walked on to the bridge.

"Report." The captain commanded, grudgingly. He wasn't impressed at having to leave his lovely female navigation officer alone in his bed while he attended to his duties.

"We've received a distress signal from a ship in orbit around Bindur. There's no doubt that it's the _Indomitable_, sir." The soldier reported nervously, showing the captain an image of the ship on a nearby screen.

Tarrant's mind raced. The _Indomitable_ had been missing for months. Any chance to reclaim it would be priceless. The morale of Cerberus forces was low, with news of the capture of the Horsehead Nebula station spreading like wildfire through the news channels. This, coupled with the Alliance claiming to possess the body of the Illusive Man, made Omega Cerberus' new base of operations.

It also made Petrovsky the man at the top.

If Tarrant retrieved the _Indomitable_, it would give the massing mercenary fleets a moment's pause, and he would gain favour with Petrovsky. He might even get the right-hand man spot and his own private suite on Omega, with as many asari dancers as he could get his hands on.

"Set course, ready an away team." The captain said gleefully.

"Sir, shouldn't we contact the General? I mean, somebody went to the trouble of repaint-" The soldier began, eager to stick to protocol.

"I don't think we'll bother him with this, private." Tarrant replied, cutting him off. "Let's let it be a nice surprise."

* * *

Tarrant adjusted his helmet as the shuttle docked with the Indomitable. He had managed to squeeze his considerable girth into a space-suit for the first time in years. When the team retook the _Indomitable_, he wanted to take his rightful place on the bridge before any potential mutiny took place.

Along with the nine Cerberus troopers that made up his away team, Tarrant watched as the access code opened the _Indomitable's _shuttle bay with ease.

"Life support is on Captain, but that's about it." The pilot informed him as he checked his read-outs.

"OK men. Get ready. Might see some dead friends on this ship!" Tarrant laughed.

The men looked at each other in disgust. Tarrant was too busy trying to figure out his pistol to notice.

The shuttle landed in the bay with a thud, and shortly after the door slid open. Tarrant elbowed his way past and jumped out. The bay was indeed empty.

"Ship's computer is down." A voice said over the comm. "No life signs."

The group progressed to the elevator, before the pilot of the shuttle radioed in.

"Uh, sir?" The pilot began.

"What?!" Tarrant asked, irritably.

"I'm locked out of the shuttle." The pilot reported with alarm.

"Locked out?" Tarrant asked. "Why did you even leave the ship?"

"I got a report that there was a technical fault with the right thruster. Protocol states that it can be fixed while on operations, so I got out to fix it and the door closed behind me!" The pilot replied, frantically.

Suddenly a blaring klaxon rang out across the shuttle bay and the emergency lights began to flash. A feminine, artificially created voice spoke over the intercom.

"Shuttle bay doors opening. Enjoy your flight."

Tarrant and his men were lifted off their feet in the escaping air and hurtled toward the rapidly opening shuttle bay doors.

As Tarrant cleared the doors and drifted out into space he had an epiphany.

"_I probably should have called this in." _He thought, as Bindur's gravitational field started to pull him in.

* * *

Zaeed leaned against the interior of the shuttle as he stretched his legs out along the row of seats. Apparently the Normandy's new CO pulled some strings with Alliance Command to get the human and the krogan a Kodiak shuttle at the Charon relay station.

The relay station had, of course, been destroyed by the Reapers. However, an Alliance frigate was currently substituting, serving as a temporary base along the busy route.

The aforementioned krogan was currently sulking as he lounged on the row of seats opposite Zaeed. Grunt had been ordered by Archangel to meet up with the older human en route to the Sahrabahrik system. This reforming galaxy was still a dangerous place, and Zaeed suspected that Vakarian wanted him to babysit the battle-hardened, but not exactly street-smart, young krogan.

Zaeed's suspicions had been confirmed as soon as he spotted the krogan aboard the frigate's mess. The krogan had decided to try his hand at poker, and an untrustworthy Alliance soldier had almost managed to convince him that Grunt's flush constituted an inferior hand to a pair of kings. As Grunt grudgingly handed over his Claymore, Zaeed informed the soldier that if the Claymore's recoil didn't merely break his arm, the krogan would certainly rip it clean off if he didn't confess.

Of course, Zaeed then had to restrain the infuriated krogan before the two of them got thrown out the airlock. It made for quite a reunion.

"You should have let me kill him." Grunt huffed as he checked his Claymore over. "He was a cheater."

"There'll be plenty of killing when we get to Omega." Zaeed replied, extracting a cigar from a pouch on his belt. Upon lighting it, and inhaling from it deeply, he continued. "There's a human expression: 'Don't bite the hand that feeds you'."

"I am NOT a varren!" Grunt growled. Clearly something was lost in translation. Zaeed sighed.

"Hey, pilot!" He yelled towards the cockpit, "What's the holdup?"

"Got a transmission from the Normandy." The pilot replied. "They've covertly engaged a Cerberus vessel and don't want any unnecessary activity. Our orders are to hold behind the Charon relay until we get the all-clear."

"Fine by me." Grunt replied. "Covert work is no fun."

Zaeed didn't respond, allowing silence to fall amongst the three occupants of the shuttle. Grunt continued to check over his weapons as Zaeed smoked his cigar.

"I understand you two worked with Shepard?" The pilot asked. The silence lingered.

"Yeah, we did." Zaeed replied, electing not to elaborate further.

"Me too." The pilot replied. "Name's Steve Cortez, I'll be staying with the Normandy once we arrive. This is the replacement shuttle."

"What happened to the old one?" Zaeed asked, only mildly interested.

"I crashed it at the Battle of London." Cortez replied.

Grunt immediately perked up at the mention of the battle.

"London? I was there!" The krogan exclaimed almost excitedly. "The greatest battle I've ever fought in."

"What about the Collector Base?" Cortez asked. "I hear that was pretty intense."

Grunt paused, pensive for a moment.

"The Collectors were a standalone battle without a war. The battle was a fine one, no doubt, but was very different. Like Aralakh company. Trained specialists holding the line, fighting odds that would crush the weak. London was fighting on the ground, an army all around you. The only objective is survival." Grunt explained.

"Besides which," Zaeed added, "we crushed the Collectors with no casualties, giving the two fingered salute to the Illusive Man as we did so. There would be no greater moment in this war. We weren't so lucky with the Reapers."

"I understand." Cortez replied. "You know, just flying this shuttle makes me feel bad. I kinda feel like I let Shepard down by crashing, even though it didn't really affect the outcome."

"Don't feel bad, kid." Zaeed said in the softest tone his gravelly voice-box could muster. "Shepard's number was up. I don't think there was anything anyone could have done."

At the mention of disappointing Shepard, Zaeed suddenly spotted Grunt's mood change. Instead of the normal krogan pride at an honourable death in battle, the young krogan looked… solemn.

"Something on your mind, Grunt?" Zaeed enquired.

The krogan was silent for a minute.

"I… tried to reach Shepard before he boarded the Citadel. But I stopped to help too many soldiers. I saved them, but not my Battlemaster." Grunt spat.

"I don't get it." Zaeed said after a moment of silence. "I thought the krogan outlook on the death of a superior was pretty clear. If he wasn't strong enough to -"

Zaeed stopped abruptly as Grunt leapt to his feet, Mattock aimed at the mercenary's head.

"My Battlemaster was NOT weak!" Grunt barked. "He took on the fears of a galaxy when entire races crumbled! He forced the Reapers to cower in his presence! If I die tomorrow, my only regret is that I didn't do my duty by him and throw myself in front of whichever bullet that killed him! He had a mate! A life to live! A galaxy to defend against the Reapers and beyond!"

Zaeed carefully took stock of the situation. Quite frankly, he'd never heard any krogan speak like this. Blatant hero worship of a Battlemaster was also unheard of. Perhaps for older krogan, with centuries of experience, Battlemasters merely came and went with the passage of time. Grunt had known Shepard for his short, but entire, life.

Another thought crossed Zaeed's mind. He cast his thoughts back to Korlus and Okeer. He'd joined Shepard and Solus on the mission on which they recovered Grunt's pod. Something one of the Blue Suns soldiers said…

"… _old one keeps churning them out of the labs, but the krogan he creates are __**insane**__…"_

Was the process truly perfected with Grunt, or was the young krogan succumbing to hereditary madness?

"Shepard was the finest soldier I have ever seen. Probably the greatest there will ever be." Zaeed said slowly and clearly, trying to get his words through to the enraged krogan. Grunt lowered his gun slightly. "I just don't understand why it bothers you this much. Since when did krogan care about mates and peaceful lives after the fighting is done?"

Grunt lowered his rifle entirely, slumping back into his chair. Situation defused.

"Tuchanka." The krogan began, as if the one word was the answer. "The females and their philosophies are taking over. I did not think it had changed me. I was gleeful as I stepped on the shuttle to come to Omega. But now…"

Grunt trailed off, inspecting his weapons for about the tenth time. Zaeed let the silence linger as he activated his Omni-tool. This situation was worrying, but fixable. An extranet search and a few messages would help Zaeed determine if this was just a krogan version of survivor's guilt, or genuine madness.

* * *

"Oh my God, they've been spaced!" The pilot of the _Victorious_ exclaimed as he watched the bodies of his crewmates burning up in Bindur's atmosphere.

"Radio HQ!" The XO shouted. "Tell them what happened!"

The pilot tried to raise his communication screen, but the holographic panel disappeared.

"What the fuck?" He exclaimed, as he spun round in his chair. One by one, the other crewmembers were making similar exclamations as their holographic displays disappeared.

"_WARNING. WARNING." _The computer droned as the airlock hissed.

The XO and the plot looked at each other, terrified.

* * *

Garrus stood at the galaxy map, watching everything unfold in real-time.

"OK EDI, they think they're about to get spaced, hit them with their countermeasures." He ordered.

"Acknowledged." The AI replied. Garrus watched the security feed as the crew started to choke on thick white plumes of gas being released from the floor.

"So far, so good." Kolyat piped up from his position next to the map. "Remind me what happens next?"

"The crew will be out of it for at least twenty minutes. Aria is already on her way back to the _Indomitable_. She'll engage stealth drive and take it out of orbit. Our newest crewmember, the lovely and talented Miss Goto, will board their ship while they're out cold and stay there until they dock with Omega."

The air shimmered as Kasumi's cloak disappeared.

"Since when did you become such a charmer, Garrus?" She asked.

"I was hoping the more I flattered you the lower your fee would go." He admitted. "And I know from experience that you're always listening."

"Hmph." Kasumi huffed, crossing her arms. "And here I thought you genuinely admired me."

"I do." Garrus confirmed. "Well, as much as a lawman-turned-vigilante can admire a career criminal."

"Could we get back to the plan?" Kolyat broke the exchange.

"Once I'm on Omega, I find a way to allow transmissions in and out." Kasumi picked up. "Then your team starts communicating with the resistance that Garrus _assumes_ is there and you come and rescue me. Then I leave with a staggering number of credits, and you boys can go and play war."

"There'll be girls playing war too." Garrus corrected her. "Aria is pivotal to this plan. She's the figurehead for this entire operation. Zaeed and I are pretty important too, we're both familiar faces on Omega."

"And Grunt?" Kasumi enquired.

"Oh, he's just here to shoot things." Garrus grinned.

* * *

"Ugh." The _Victorious's_ XO groaned as she righted herself. "Status report?"

The pilot was similarly groggy.

"All systems online." He confirmed, looking at his now re-activated screens. "Computer says the _Indomitable_'_s_ cyberwarfare suite attacked us and then fled. It's got a rogue VI, but it wasn't powerful enough to get through our major firewalls and open the airlock."

"Hence we're not dead." The XO continued the pilot's train of thought. "Radio Petrovsky and set course for the shipyards. Any clues where the _Indomitable_ went?"

"Nope, it activated stealth systems and then disappeared. Whoever got that distress signal out probably died soon after sending it, hence the lack of life signs upon boarding."

"OK, let's go." The XO ordered, glad to leave both the _Indomitable_ and the corpse of her infuriatingly incompetent, overweight, sexist, leering, grabby and now dead commanding officer behind.

And also glad to take command of his ship, of course.


	8. Chapter 8

The Return of Archangel

Chapter Eight

Zaeed blinked against the bright lights of the Normandy's shuttle bay as the doors opened. He grabbed his gear and jumped out.

There was quite the delegation ready to greet them. Garrus, Major Alenko and six alliance soldiers stood just beyond the shuttle.

"Zaeed." Garrus greeted the mercenary, stepping forward, hand extended. Zaeed shook it firmly.

"Good to see you Archangel." The mercenary greeted. "I hear we've got some Cerberus bastards to kill?"

"You've heard right." Garrus replied as smiles stretched their similarly scarred faces. "But, let's deal with this little situation first."

Zaeed nodded as he turned back to the shuttle. Grunt hopped out, his weapons safely stowed on his back.

"Urdnot Grunt?" The Major asked.

"… Yeah." The young krogan replied, confused by the stiffness of this welcoming committee.

"You are hereby charged with dereliction of duty and placed under arrest under the authority of the Systems Alliance. You will be tried at an emergency tribunal on the main deck immediately." The Major informed Grunt sternly.

Grunt was speechless for the second time in his life as an alliance soldier placed him in handcuffs and marched him to the elevator, the five other soldiers following closely.

"Do you think this will work?" Garrus asked Zaeed once the krogan was out of earshot.

"I hope so." Zaeed replied, darkly. "Because if not, we'll have to put him down."

* * *

After strolling off the Cerberus ship, Kasumi proceeded towards the marketplace with the usual spring in her step. However, upon rounding a corner to instantly witness a Cerberus soldier executing two turian children, her disposition soured. She instantly snapped his neck - an unusually aggressive move from the thief - lamenting that she had been too late to save the children.

"_I reckon as his neck snapped, Garrus smiled."_ Kasumi thought.

She looked around, finding a maintenance hatch, peering inside to take note of the space. She stepped over the body of the Cerberus trooper, lifting the first child and placing him gently inside the hatch. She did the same for his brother, gently closing the lid and locking it shut. If their parents were still alive, she wasn't going to let Cerberus desecrate their children's bodies.

She removed the helmet of the deceased trooper, unclicking his communicator from the frame.

"_Ugh, gross." _Kasumi groaned as she wiped down the earpiece on his corpse. Satisfied that it was reasonably clean, she hooked it over her ear, and began her reconnaissance.

* * *

Major Alenko stood on the raised plinth at the galaxy map, overlooking the 'courtroom'. Garrus stood to his right and Liara to his left. The crew of the Normandy, including the specialists, were all in place around the room, making the deck looked packed to capacity. That is, except for one very specific occupant.

Grunt was stood at the other end of the galaxy map, two alliance soldiers at either side of him. He wasn't even trying to break out of his handcuffs. He just looked at the ground forlornly.

"I call this tribunal to order." Major Alenko said authoritatively. The general hubbub died down. "Defendant, state your name and clan."

"Grunt, of clan Urdnot." He replied.

"Do you understand the charges brought against you?" The Major asked.

"Yes." Grunt replied, eyes still not rising to meet anyone else's.

"Do you understand that as captain of the _SSV Normandy_ I have the authority to preside over this tribunal and sentence you upon reaching a verdict?" The Major asked.

"I do." The krogan replied.

Zaeed smiled from his place in the crowd. This tribunal was a complete lie and everyone in attendance knew it, but it was vital to play on Grunt's lack of street-smarts. This tribunal _vaguely_ resembled an Alliance proceeding, but Archangel and Alenko were going to throw as much krogan terminology in as they could to maintain the illusion of authority. Grunt may have had his rite of passage on Tuchanka, but this rite of passage would be altogether more rewarding if it paid off.

"Field Marshal Garrus Vakarian, you stand as krantt for the late Commander John Shepard and as prosecutor. State your case." The Major commanded.

"Certainly." Garrus replied. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he had engaged full-on 'turian' mode. He was actually basing his performance off his father, not that anyone here would know that.

"Urdnot Grunt. Upon completion of your rite of passage, you chose to serve under a Battlemaster, did you not?" Garrus enquired.

"I did." Grunt replied.

"State for the court the identity of your chosen Battlemaster." Garrus ordered.

"Commander Shepard, of the Normandy." Grunt replied, eyes still downcast.

"Were you ever formally dismissed as Commander Shepard's krantt?" Garrus enquired.

"No, such dismissal isn't possible." Grunt replied.

"Detail for the court the reason behind your return to Tuchanka after the assault on the Collector base." Garrus ordered.

"Shepard was arrested. I returned to Urdnot to serve my clan, under the command of Clan Chief Urdnot Wrex." Grunt replied, somewhat confused. Garrus paused.

"I'll hand over to the defence for the moment." Garrus announced.

"Very well." Alenko replied. "Doctor T'Soni, you stand as Urdnot Grunt's krantt and defense. State your case."

"Thank you." Liara replied politely. "Urdnot Grunt, detail if you can the procedure regarding the krantt of Battlemasters who are found to have committed a crime."

"Uh." Grunt thought hard. "Criminal Battlemasters are usually killed before any sort of trial occurs. But if the crime is severe enough, most krantt will renounce their Battlemaster before trial. If a Battlemaster is convicted, they lose their status, and therefore their krantt."

"Could it be argued that upon his arrest, Commander Shepard lost his status as Battlemaster? I will remind you that he was stripped of all his Council and Alliance titles." Liara ventured.

"I guess." Grunt replied. "But to the krogan, Shepard committed no crime."

"_Shit."_ Zaeed thought. _"He didn't take the bait. They'll need to change tack."_

"If Shepard lost his krantt, the turian can't stand as prosecutor on his behalf." Grunt added. "So I was still his krantt at the time of his death."

"I didn't stand as his krantt while he was in captivity." Garrus replied. "I resumed my place after the trial."

"Then you were merely unworthy of him." Grunt growled, making eye contact for the first time.

Garrus looked to Liara. This was going nowhere.

* * *

Kasumi hurried through the marketplace, eager to clear the smoke that was sure to mess with her camouflage system. The fact that the smoke was rising from various piles of burning corpses was another good reason to get out of this particular section. The thief vaguely recalled Mordin and Miranda discussing similar circumstances during the plague that consumed the lower levels, but these bodies were the result of prejudice and violence, not disease.

Humans rushed around under the watchful eyes of armed Cerberus troops. Chained asari were being marched around at gunpoint, biotic suppression collars wrapped around their necks.

Information was filtering through to her earpiece throughout the entirety of her trip. Apparently, the main resistance had been split in two by internal conflict, leading to three forces fighting each other on the station.

Cerberus dominated the upper levels, and held Afterlife as their headquarters, which was where Kasumi was heading now. Down in the lower levels, the human resistance, eager to fight Cerberus, were continually gnawing at the group's ankles, skirmishes continually occurring in elevator shafts and corridors. It was a war of attrition, with Cerberus and the human resistance losing roughly equal numbers with each fight.

Right down at the bottom of the station, the second resistance group were biding their time. They were led by a krogan called Patriarch, and were killing every human in reach – Cerberus or otherwise.

Cerberus were worried that Patriarch was going to strike a deal with the waiting Blood Pack fleet to allow them to gain entry to the station. There were no docking bays in the lower levels, but plenty of room for the Blood Pack to manoeuvre a team to cut through the hull of the station and fashion a crude airlock.

Luckily for Cerberus, communication was still locked down... for the moment.

* * *

"As the accused's defence counsel, I would like to draw your attention to exhibit 'A'." Liara stated.

"Please detail the nature of this exhibit." Alenko commanded.

"It is a recording of a radio communication between Urdnot Grunt and Urdnot Wrex during the Battle of London." She replied, as she typed some commands into a console. The voice of a krogan suddenly came in over the speakers.

* * *

_The Battle of London, London, United Kingdom, Earth_

_Grunt grabbed a husk that was clawing its way into a fellow krogan's back and threw it to the ground, crushing its skull under the considerable force of his boot. An order blared in through Grunt's earpiece._

"_Grunt, it's Wrex." The clan leader yelled. "Alliance says Reapers have cut Shepard's team off from the beam." The clan leader paused as Grunt heard shotgun fire over the comm line. "I've gotta co-ordinate our own forces, you break off and get down there as quick as you can!"_

"_Got it." The young krogan replied._

_Grunt turned to look at the beam, readying his shotgun. He charged off, not even checking the NavPoint on his Omni-tool._

* * *

"Clan Chief Wrex's order came in at 01:53 local time." Liara explained. "Alliance reports say Shepard was spotted making it to the beam at 01:55. From his Omni-tool data, the defendant was one and a half miles away from the beam when he received his orders. On foot, making it there, navigating such heavy resistance, would have been physically impossible."

"I don't understand." Grunt replied. "When I got there, the beam turned off."

"The beam was reported switched off at 02:07, long after Shepard himself travelled through it." Liara responded.

"Does the prosecution have any more questions in light of this evidence?" Kaidan asked.

"The prosecution has no questions." Garrus replied, shaking his head.

"In that case," Kaidan began, "on the charge of dereliction of duty, I find the defendant not-"

"NO!" Grunt roared, smashing his fists into the desk in front of him. "I stopped to help others instead of following orders! Ask the asari, she knows from the data!"

Garrus rolled his eyes. That was two lifelines Grunt had batted away. Clearly they would have to go to plan C to keep up appearances.

Kaidan turned to Liara, who merely nodded in affirmation of Grunt's statement.

"Urdnot Grunt." Kaidan began, typing something into his Omni-tool. "You are hereby found guilty of dereliction of duty to your krannt. However, in light of your history of service, and commendations from the militaries of several races for valour, you will not be sentenced at this tribunal."

Grunt looked to Kaidan, again confused.

"Report to Deck One." Kaidan commanded. "You will be sentenced there by an appropriate party in accordance with krogan law. Court is dismissed."

With that, Grunt was marched to the elevator to meet his fate.

* * *

Kasumi looked up the stairs to the marketplace entrance for Afterlife. Two Cerberus troopers stood guard at the door. Killing them wasn't really an option, having passed at least twenty more troopers in the marketplace. The thief checked her surroundings and de-cloaked.

"Hello boys!" Kasumi greeted with a wave as she peered round the corner.

"What the hell?" The trooper on the left exclaimed as he drew his rifle and ran down the stairs, his fellow guard following closely.

She rounded a corner and reactivated her cloak, jumping over a nearby counter. The hapless Cerberus troops ran straight past her, allowing her to rush upstairs and enter the infamous nightclub.

* * *

As soon as the elevator reached deck one, the accompanying alliance soldiers undid Grunt's restraints, and then resumed their silent stance. He took a step forward and the elevator doors shut quickly behind him. The newly convicted krogan looked at the door to Shepard's cabin. He pressed the button on the doorframe and waited.

The doors opened, and Grunt stepped in. He scanned the room, but there was no-one there. Suddenly, a figure emerged from behind the model ship display, and slowly approached the young krogan.

Grunt immediately lowered himself to one knee, head bowed, awaiting judgement.

"Well," Tali began, "the trial was… interesting."

Grunt didn't respond. Noting his lack of response, and unchanging pose, Tali decided to put on her Admiral Zorah voice.

"Is there anything you wish to say before I pass judgement?" Tali asked.

"As the mate of my Battlemaster, I offer my services as krantt to you." Grunt replied. "I will protect you with my life, as I failed to protect your mate."

Tali smiled sadly. Even the krogan super-soldier didn't know how to handle Shepard's passing. She gently laid a hand on his bowed head.

"Grunt, what happened was not your fault." She said, gently. "Shepard knew both the risks and his destiny. He was proud of you. You served him well. I remember watching you fight so hard on the Collector base, and Shepard and Wrex told me about how you led Aralakh Company to defeat the Rachni. You've not been alive long, but from the moment you got out of that tank you gave it your all. You're not guilty of dereliction of duty in my eyes or anyone's but your own. Your offer to protect me in Shepard's memory is very honourable, but I decline."

"Then what is your judgement?" Grunt asked.

"I want you to recognise that we all feel the same way you do about Shepard. We all wish we could have been there to help him. Your 'sentence' is to fight as Shepard's krantt for as long as you live. Use what he taught you about the battlefield and the galaxy to help those in need, as he did in life."

"I accept your judgement." Grunt replied.

"There is an additional sentence." Tali continued. "But you can stand for this one." She smiled.

Grunt rose to his feet, his eyes meeting the glowing points underneath the quarian's mask.

"You know why Garrus asked you here?" Tali asked.

"Omega." Grunt replied simply.

"Exactly." Tali replied. "Your other job will be to watch out for him."

"The turian's a good shot, he doesn't need my help." Grunt replied. "Not that I reject your sentence." He added hastily.

"Knowing him, there will come a point where Garrus is either ready to sacrifice his life or his soul." Tali explained sadly. "If you can, make him think about whether Shepard would make the same choice. Make sure he stays Garrus Vakarian, and doesn't become Archangel again."

"As you wish." Grunt replied, acknowledging her with a simple nod of his head.

* * *

"_If Aria doesn't repaint after this, she's not going to do much business."_ Kasumi thought upon entering the former nightclub.

Afterlife was now white and chrome, unmoving and sterile. A bearded man stood at what used to be Aria's observation post talking to a young woman, who Kasumi recognised as the acting captain of the ship that she stowed away on.

Analysts were poring over data on numerous screens around what used to be the dance floor. Peering over a ledge, Kasumi saw that the lower portion of the nightclub had been converted into a makeshift barracks, housing bunks for maybe twenty or so troopers.

"_I need to get close enough to the boss to take his picture."_ Kasumi began detailing her plan in her mind. _"Not to mention find a link to the communications array."_

Kasumi retrieved a small hacking unit from her belt, and crept towards a vacant station. She peered around the holographic monitor, and clipped the unit into the appropriate socket. Her first task was done.

"_If Aria and Garrus want to know who's leading the operation, they can search the database…" _Kasumi resumed her train of thought. _"But what's life without a little danger?"_

The thief grinned as she turned to the stairs where Anto once stood guard. Resuming her creeping pace, she made her way across the dance floor and up the stairs. The thief quickly pressed herself flat against the wall as the new captain made her way down the steps. Once she had passed, she made her way to the platform, readying her Omni-tool.

The man stood with his hands clasped behind his back, surveying the scene before him, doubtless plotting strikes against the two resistance units.

Kasumi raised her arm. Her Omni-tool was projecting using non-visible light, allowing the implants in her eyes to see it, but no-one else.

As she readied her Omni-tool's camera function, the man turned, grabbing her invisible arm and twisting hard, instantly breaking it. Kasumi screamed as the pain shot up her arm, and the man's other hand clasped tightly around her neck, choking her.

Kasumi could only struggle as the man effortlessly lifted her over the edge of the balcony. Her cloak had deactivated, and all eyes were now on her. Kasumi kicked and choked as she desperately tried to free herself from the iron grip of her attacker. His grip loosened ever so slightly, and she looked into the man's eyes.

They had bionic components, easily visible up close. Clearly he could see light in non-visible wavelengths too. His dimly glowing eyes were eerily reminiscent of the Illusive Man.

His death grip had resumed, and Kasumi found herself gasping again, her useless broken arm dangling.

"I've changed my mind Ms. Goto." The man said suddenly, his grip loosening for the second time. "I'm not going to kill you."

Kasumi desperately drew her breath while she could, the pain from her arm fogging her mind.

"At least… not yet." He finished, as he let go of her neck.

The thief found herself facing a long drop for the second time in the space of a week. She plummeted downwards, a hard steel table breaking her fall, and slumped to the floor.

As Kasumi coughed up a little blood she registered searing pain now coming from her arm and her back. As she lamented her decision, her world softly faded to black.


	9. Chapter 9

The Return of Archangel

Chapter Nine

"So, how's life as the Shadow Broker's newest agent?" Garrus asked as he strolled into Javik's room.

"I have not yet commenced my duties." Javik confessed, turning to the turian. "I require a great deal of knowledge of this cycle before I begin."

"I see." Garrus replied, leaning against the doorframe. "I can't convince you to change your mind then?"

"I am afraid not." Javik confirmed, shaking his head. "Doctor T'Soni will teach me the details of this cycle, and I will relay to her the details of the last."

"Sounds like a mutually beneficial arrangement." Garrus relented. "Sure could have used a soldier like you on Omega though."

"You shall have to make do with what you have, Field Marshal." Javik replied. Garrus turned to leave.

"The sky is still filled with Reapers." Javik called out as the turian walked away. "I do not understand what their motivations are, but they cannot be trusted."

"What's your point?" Garrus asked, confused by the prothean's change of topic.

"Do not lose your life over a glorified mining platform." The prothean commanded. "Palaven, and the greater galaxy, may still need you."

* * *

"I knew I should have left you to die on the Citadel, Bailey." Aria growled at the defiant human in front of her.

"I'm serious!" He replied, his arms crossed. "Keeping the kids aboard is insane! They should go with the _Normandy_!"

"Those two are under **my** care." Aria snarled.

"And your definition of caring is keeping them both aboard a military vessel that's about to see action?" Bailey yelled. "Though it's nice to see you remember that there are in fact **two** kids! Exactly how much time have you spent _caring_ for Ethan?"

"The girl is a traumatised youngster." Aria growled. "Ethan is an infant, he doesn't require my attention like she does."

"No, what you _mean_ to say is that the girl is an _asari_, so she deserves more attention than the _human_ does." Bailey replied furiously.

"Fine!" Aria replied, stomping off towards the medical bay. "I'm moving Ethan's crib to my room, if for no other reason than to shut you up!"

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Bailey shouted back as he rushed to follow her. "You're not gonna bond just by having his crib closer to you!"

He caught up to Aria, falling into step with her fast strides.

"What exactly is the point of my being here anyway?" He asked. "I take it I'm just another gun?"

"No, you're a very special gun." Aria shook her head.

"Special how?" Bailey asked warily.

"Archangel desperately wants the drell on his team." Aria replied. "He asked for you too, but I told him no, you have a more important job."

"What do you mean?" Bailey asked, perplexed.

"This, right now, you arguing back at me, that's not something I'm accustomed to." Aria admitted. "The kids are more important than anything else I'm doing, and I need someone with the balls to never let me forget that."

"So…" Bailey asked.

"Wake up Bailey!" She growled, exasperated. "You're going to be the kids' bodyguard!"

"That's… actually not the worst idea I've ever heard." Bailey replied.

"I'm glad you think so." Aria replied, the hints of a smile gracing her usually tense face.

"Actually, it'll be nice defending someone who deserves it for a ch-" Bailey replied, before being shushed by Aria.

The asari put a finger to her lips as they rounded the door to the medical bay. They crept to either side of the doorway and peered inside.

Alone in the room were the two children. The little asari girl stood on her tiptoes, gazing at the baby human boy in the crib. Bailey moved into the doorway, stopping when Aria grabbed his shoulder. He looked back as she shook her head.

"Let's see what happens." She whispered.

Bailey nodded in recognition and moved back behind the doorframe.

"…Hello." The little girl whispered softly into the crib, seemingly unsure of herself. Ethan stirred and gurgled as he looked up at her. "My name is Nala." The little girl added.

Aria and Bailey looked at each other, stunned.

"What's your name?" Nala whispered to Ethan. She frowned as she received no response. Aria stepped forward.

"Sweetheart?" The elder asari asked as she entered the room.

The little girl flinched as she jumped back from the crib, thinking she had been caught doing something.

"It's OK." Aria replied, raising her palms in a reassuring gesture. "Your name is Nala, right?"

At the mention of her name, the girl perked up, nodding.

"Are you OK?" Bailey asked. The girl looked at him blankly, not issuing any kind of response.

"Hang on…" Aria said, arms crossed in thought. She crossed to the comm system. "Kolyat, Xihlus, get down to the med bay."

"_Acknowledged."_ Xihlus' voice replied over the speakers.

"What's going on?" Bailey asked Aria. "What do we need them for?"

"I'll tell you in a minute." Aria confirmed, busying herself rooting through the medical supply drawers.

"Is there a problem?" Kolyat asked as he walked through the doorway, followed closely by Xihlus.

"Yes." Aria nodded. "But hopefully we're moments from solving it." She added as she readied a syringe. She put the syringe down on the side of the exam table, beckoning the little girl over.

The girl made her way over, shyly. Aria picked her up and placed her on the table. Aria brought up her Omni tool, changing a setting and deactivating one of her implants.

"_OK Nala, can you listen me now?"_ Aria asked.

The little girl's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes. You talk funny." Nala replied, nodding her head vigourously.

"_I've not talked native Thessian in often years."_ Aria smiled. _"I was born on one of the old colonies, they changed differently the way we spoke."_

The three aliens approached the table.

"Kolyat, say something." Aria commanded.

Kolyat moved his mouth, and all either asari heard were dry sounding clicks and croaks.

"Didn't get a word." Aria shook her head, a smile on her face. "Bailey?"

Bailey issued something that sounded more like asari dialects, but with throaty wails and rumbles.

Aria shook her head again. "Xihlus."

"Hello Aria, hello Nala." Xihlus replied.

All Aria heard were dry clicks and twittering, with the odd whistling sound. However, Nala clearly heard otherwise.

"Hello Xihlus." The little girl grinned, replying in native Thessian.

"_You understood that?"_ Aria asked, confused.

"Yep. My Daddy's a turian." Nala beamed.

"Xihlus, talk about atomic theory or FTL or something." Aria commanded.

Xihlus paused and issued the same clicks and whistles. Nala looked much more confused this time.

"OK, so you know a bit of Palaven North Hemisphere." Aria pondered. She switched back to native Thessian. _"I'm going to inject you with this so you can listen us all."_ She informed the girl.

Aria swabbed the inside of the girl's ear with rubbing alcohol. Aiming carefully, she pushed the needle through the girl's skin ever so slightly and injected the translation chip.

"_Give it a minute."_ Aria said softly, clutching the little girl's hand. She let go, and re-engaged her own translation device.

"Can you hear us again?" Kolyat asked.

"Yes." Aria confirmed. "And hopefully in a few minutes, she will too."

* * *

"Grunt and Kolyat are safely aboard the _Indomitable_." Zaeed informed Garrus as he entered the main battery.

"I'm sure Aria is itching to get started." Garrus remarked as he packed his few personal possessions into a bag.

"We can't start a damn thing until Goto does her part. We got a signal yet?" The mercenary asked.

"No." Garrus replied as he rushed around the forward battery. "And frankly, I'm getting worried. It's been six hours, no way should it take that long."

"The girl's the best." Zaeed replied. "If she can't sneak in how the hell are we supposed to?"

"We go to the _Indomitable_ and wait for the signal." Garrus stated plainly as he hoisted the bag over his shoulder. "If no signal comes, we'll have to make a new plan."

"Huh. You've spent a lot of time in this room, eh?" Zaeed asked, taking a look around.

"Sure have." Garrus replied, taking one last look at the console. "What's that human saying? All good things?"

"Must come to an end." A voice finished from behind Zaeed. The room's occupants turned to see Liara standing outside the door. Silence fell between the three as Liara and Garrus looked at each other.

"I'll er… Get to the airlock." Zaeed said, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the two long-time comrades. He marched past Liara with a curt nod of recognition and made his way to the elevator.

"So, I hear you tried to steal my prothean?" Liara smiled as the doors closed behind her, leaving the two alone.

"Well, I never wanted one until I saw how much you did." Garrus smirked, leaning against the console.

"Isn't that always the way?" Liara smiled sadly. "Listen, as Shadow Broker, I'll help you out whenever I can."

"I appreciate it. This one's going to be-" Garrus replied.

"Suicide?" Liara cut in, slightly angry at the turian.

Garrus paused. Liara clearly didn't think much of their chances.

"Look, if there's one thing I don't need going in to this, it's condemnation." Garrus sighed.

"So, let's go over this big plan then." Liara huffed in response. "You deal with Cerberus _on_ the station, deal with the fleets _orbiting_ the station and then wait for Aria to shoot you in the back?"

"Aria won't shoot me in the back. If she steps out of line I'll-"

"You'll what? Aria has held that station for hundreds of years! You think she hasn't seen two-bit vigilantes come and go?" Liara snapped.

"Was that a personal insult or some asari superiority trip?" Garrus replied tersely.

Tense silence fell between the two once more, both of them staring each other down.

"I just don't want you to get hurt." Liara replied, breaking the silence, sinking to her knees and leaning against the wall. Her eyes were watering, and Garrus reckoned tears weren't far away.

The turian crossed the short distance to the wall. Leaning against it, he too slid down it until he was sat on the floor, positioned next to the asari. He extended an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer as her head came to rest on his own shoulder.

"Liara, I'm not planning on dying any time soon." He said softly. "Shepard knew what he was getting himself into, we all did. This is different."

"Last time, you ended up seconds from death." Liara reminded him. "Launching some crazy suicide mission because you didn't think life was worth living anymore."

"There was more to it than that." Garrus corrected her.

"Was there, though?" Liara asked. "My own fight against the Shadow Broker was me trying to settle in to a galaxy without Shepard, and the odds were hardly in my favour."

"Maybe you're right." Garrus conceded. "But there are civilians on that station, and I doubt Cerberus is treating them kindly."

"True." Liara replied, sniffing. "I suppose Shepard would try his best to save them too."

"I suppose he would, but I'm just using it as an excuse to kill some mercs." Garrus laughed, rising to his feet.

Extending his hand to Liara, he pulled her up from the floor as she wiped her eyes dry. He was taken aback as she launched herself forward into a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. Steadying them both, he returned the hug, holding her tightly round her waist. Liara pulled Garrus close, kissing the scarred side of his face softly.

"Promise me that when all this is done, you'll come and take a nice desk job at my new base." She smiled.

"I promise." Garrus chuckled as their embrace ended. "Look after yourself Liara."

"I won't be able to." Liara said as she moved to the door. She turned back to face her turian friend, giving him a smile. "I'll be too busy looking after you."

* * *

The thief breathed heavily as she tried to register her surroundings through bleary eyes. The ringing in her left ear was deafening for some reason, although there were no sounds to be heard in the cell.

Kasumi patted down her body with her unbroken arm. Her armour was gone, leaving her stripped to her underwear. No Omni-tool, no back-up.

Luckily for the thief, she had had the forethought to have a second failsafe installed. She traced her fingers down her broken arm, feeling for the tell-tale little bump halfway down the underside of her forearm.

Her sub-dermal Omni-tool flared into life. She hadn't used it in some time, and her own optical implants adjusted to the unfamiliar infra-red range. The interface was a backed up version of her main Omni-tool, and hence fully functional. With a few clicks, she engaged the wireless link she had placed on the console in Afterlife.

With a few clicks, she expertly brought down the firewalls and locked out the other Cerberus programmers. She then instantly brought up a message program, and began to record.

"Garrus, I've been captured." She whispered. "The guy leading Cerberus is some bearded super badass, don't you dare go after him alone! My arm's broken and my ribs are fractured or broken or both… I'm quite willing to renegotiate my fee if you save me." She quipped, groaning through the pain.

* * *

Garrus readjusted the bag over his shoulder as the elevator doors opened. He stepped out towards the galaxy map and looked up.

The crew of the Normandy lined the way to the airlock either side of the room.

"Field Marshal Garrus Vakarian is on deck!" Alenko announced to the assembled crew from his place at the galaxy map. "Squad... Attention!"

The Major, Joker, EDI, James and the assembled crew all snapped into a salute. As Garrus stood in shock, the Major relaxed and proceeded down the small ramp to where Garrus was standing.

"Sorry we've gotta bail out on you Garrus." The Major apologised. "If nothing else, we can give you a farewell worthy of a war hero."

The Major extended a hand and Garrus took it, shaking hands with his old friend.

"You've already helped me more than you should have." Garrus replied as he let go of the Major's hand. "Get this ship back to Hackett before his head implodes."

"Will do, _sir_." Alenko chuckled.

Garrus nodded at the Major as he moved up the line, climbing the stairs and stopping in front of Vega.

"Good luck on the N7 program Jimmy." Garrus smirked. "If in doubt, do what I'd do."

"Thanks for the advice Scars." James smiled. "Stay safe out there."

They shook hands, and Garrus continued along the line to Joker and EDI.

"Well…" Joker began. "Try not to die, I guess."

"Back at you." Garrus replied. "Of course, killing you is probably a bit easier than killing me. A firm hug would do it I imagine."

"True." Joker confirmed.

"Keep him safe EDI." Garrus commanded.

"_I will keep my hugs below a threshold of 1 Newton."_ EDI confirmed. _"That was a joke."_

Garrus shook hands with both of them and opened the door to the airlock, throwing his bag inside. He turned to face the assembled crew, folding his hands behind his back.

"Crew. Whatever happens to me on Omega. Whatever I may or may not achieve, history will remember me, justly, as a crewmember on the Normandy. Everything I will ever do after stepping out of this airlock for the last time will merely be a footnote." He told them.

"This may bother some people." He continued. "But being on the crew roster of the Normandy is the greatest compliment history can offer. I am proud to have served with the greatest crew in history. Never forget that. Never forget what Shepard taught us all… I hope to see you all again someday." He added.

"Squad, dismissed!" He ordered.

He stepped into the airlock, preparing himself for his final goodbye.

* * *

"Where the hell is the kitchen on this ship?" Grunt growled as he walked in to the med-bay.

The room's occupants turned to him with a glare as Grunt took notice of the girl sat on the table.

"What's up with her?" He asked.

"I can understand him!" Nala smiled up at Aria.

"Wish I could." Bailey added.

"What's everyone doing in here?" Zaeed asked as he joined the now extremely crowded med-bay.

"The girl's talking." Grunt replied gruffly.

"Oh." Zaeed said, not interested. "Anyway, Archangel's saying his goodbyes over on the Normandy, he'll be over here in five. Is there a kitchen around here somewhere?"

"I asked, they won't tell me." Grunt responded quickly.

"The kitchen and the lounge are up the stairs." Kolyat replied, eager to get out of the med-bay himself. "I'll show you the way."

The medical bay emptied slightly, leaving Bailey, Xihlus and Aria alone with the children.

"They're going to eat us out of house and home before we even start." Bailey sighed.

"We've got enough provisions to last a full 21 man complement three months." Xihlus replied.

"Went a little stir-crazy there while we were in cryo?" Bailey asked, chuckling.

"Stop talking about food you two." Aria scolded. "So, Nala, what's brought about this bout of talkativeness?"

The little girl seemed to shrink slightly at the elder asari's question.

"You could understand a lot of what I said, even with the difference in dialects, and a bit of what Xihlus said. Why so quiet until now?" Aria questioned further.

"The scary man did something." Nala replied, cryptically.

"What scary man?" Aria asked soothingly.

"She means that damn prothean." Xihlus replied.

"Do you remember where your parents are?" Aria enquired tentatively.

"I remember the monsters coming, and mummy taking me out of my room and following daddy. Then I remember you saving me from more monsters." Nala explained slowly.

"OK." Aria replied, putting the pieces together. "Nala, this is Bailey, he'll be looking after you when I'm not around. You know Xihlus already, he'll take you to get something to eat if you want."

Nala nodded and Aria picked her off the table and placed her on the ground. Xihlus took her hand and led her out of the room, quizzing her about how much turian she knew.

"I take it you want to talk to me alone." Bailey asked.

"I figured it out." Aria replied. "Shepard's prothean looked into her mind to find the source of her trauma. He found it and copied it to the memories of himself, the Shadow Broker and me."

"Alright… What difference does that make?" Bailey asked.

"He found the source of the trauma and _erased_ it from her memory." Aria explained. "I didn't know that until I quizzed her. She saw her mom and sisters die, and her dad make a last stand. The trauma was severe enough to render her mute."

"So he cut it out, like a tumour." Bailey guessed.

"Exactly." Aria replied. "I'm not sure whether it's a bad thing or not."

"Well, time will tell. I'll look out for any problems." Bailey promised.

"In that case," Aria began, crossing to Ethan's crib and gently lifting the squirming infant into her arms. "I've got some catching up to do."

* * *

"I'll seal us in if you like." Garrus asked.

"Please do." Tali replied, beginning the process of unclipping her helmet.

Garrus keyed the appropriate commands into the console, commencing a decontamination sweep and air exchange. By the time it was finished, Tali was shaking her long hair free of her suit.

"I'm not sure I'll ever get used to seeing you like that." Garrus smirked as she blinked against the harsh interior lighting.

"It's pretty weird seeing you not purple." Tali confessed.

"So…" Garrus said, not sure what to say.

"It's been an interesting journey." Tali offered.

"Sure has." Garrus replied. "Listen… I'm not great with the whole goodbye thing."

"You were pretty good out there." Tali replied. "That was quite a speech."

"That was different. Soldiers, you know." He replied sheepishly. "I've already had a pretty emotional goodbye with Liara."

"Really?" She asked, surprised. "The fearsome Shadow Broker got all weepy?"

"Even kissy." Garrus laughed. "Javik better watch out during all those late nights talking about prothean history."

"Well, I don't like to be upstaged, but I can manage a hug. I can't risk your turian germs!" She giggled, bringing Garrus into a warm hug.

"I'd hate to start a cross-species incident by infecting an admiral with something." Garrus told her as he hugged her back. "We had some good times, eh?"

"Actually, a lot of those times were under fire." She replied. "But we had some pretty good ones on elevators talking about my immune system."

"Let's not say goodbye." Tali suggested as they parted.

"Good idea." Garrus replied. "I'll see you soon, _Admiral_."

"See you soon, _Field Marshal_." Tali responded as she clipped her helmet back into place.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: WARNING - This chapter contains descriptions of torture. Anyone who does not wish to read such descriptions can skip ahead to the next chapter, which will begin with a summary of this chapter. The 'M' rating is there for a reason.  
_

The Return of Archangel

Chapter Ten

The light was stunningly harsh, making the thief's retinas burn with pain inside her skull. Her arm was agonisingly painful, her back ached and her head throbbed. To add insult to injury, she was also stripped to her underwear and tied to a cold metal chair.

The heavy metal door scraped against the floor as it opened, followed by some light footsteps. The light was suddenly tilted upwards, and a blurry face came into view.

Kasumi blinked a few times until the face came into focus. Her captor was female, with fair skin and blazing red hair. She was thin, almost unhealthily so, and her gaze burned with hatred as she looked into the thief's eyes. The woman's face was stern and unflinching, and she wore a simple black uniform, with only a small Cerberus logo adorning the lapel.

"I am Information Specialist Kessel." The woman spat. "You are holding information that General Petrovsky wishes to know. My orders are to extract that information from you."

"I imagine that you won't be asking nicely." Kasumi guessed.

"Indeed I won't." Kessel replied as she put a case on the desk in front of her. Sliding the locks to either side, she opened the case into two halves and laid it flat on the table, revealing a dazzling array of blades and other nasty metal devices.

"We're at the cutting stage already?" Kasumi asked, fear tinging her voice.

"No." Kessel admitted. "But in my experience, people don't like surprises. You have seen what I have, and the lengths that I am equipped to go to. I'll be breaking quite a few more of your limbs before I get to the blades. This little display just acts as a reminder of the consequences of lying to me."

* * *

"Why won't Ethan talk to me?" Nala asked as she and Aria watched Ethan sleep.

The two asari were lying in Aria's darkened room on board the _Indomitable_, watching the gentle rise and fall of the baby boy's chest through the clear Perspex wall of his crib. The little girl wore an oversize T-shirt as she cuddled up in the blankets, whereas Aria wore her usual outfit, minus her boots, lying on top of the covers. Aria had draped an arm over the girl, drawing her close as the two of them watched Ethan.

"He's too little sweetie." Aria replied, reassuring the girl. "He doesn't know how to talk yet."

"Oh." Nala replied. "But how will he know how to talk?"

"Well," Aria began, "someone will teach him."

"Will he talk like us, or like one of the others?" Nala asked, turning to look up at the elder asari.

Aria smiled, the girl was clearly, as the humans would say, 'bright as a button'.

"Bailey will teach him how to talk, so he can talk to the other humans he meets." Aria guessed.

"Does that mean we can teach him how to talk like us too?" Nala asked, excited at the prospect.

"Sure we can." Aria smiled. "I'm sure when he learns to talk, he'll love talking to you more than anyone else!"

The two continued to watch Ethan in silence for a while, and Aria could feel herself beginning to struggle to stay awake.

"_Aria, we need you in the war room."_ Archangel's voice stated over the comm, jolting the asari out of her restful state.

"Acknowledged." Aria replied softly, careful not to disturb the children. Nala had fallen into a light slumber herself, curling up into a little ball to keep herself warm and safe. Softly laying a palm onto the girl's head, Aria leapt into her mind. She was dreaming about a day on Thessia, the elegant silver spires on the horizon standing out against the backdrop of a cloudless amber sunset.

This was the first night Nala dreamt of a galaxy without Reapers.

* * *

A piercing scream echoed down the dark hallway.

"Miss Goto, this is just the beginning." Kessel snarled, bending another finger on the thief's dainty hand backwards until it snapped.

Kasumi screamed in pain under the ministrations of her captor. This was the third finger that the Cerberus bitch had broken, and she was showing no sign of slowing.

"I'm not asking for much Miss Goto." Kessel explained. At this point, Kasumi had to admit, she wasn't wrong.

"The last we heard," Kessel began, "the Horsehead Nebula base had fallen to the Alliance, the Illusive Man was headed to the Citadel, and the allied fleets were massing. Unfortunately, our communications blackout worked both ways."

"Cerberus is gone." Kasumi spat, wincing through the pain.

"That much is already clear." Kessel replied. "But what of the Illusive Man?"

"Dead." Kasumi replied gleefully. "His body was found on the Citadel."

"Liar!" Kessel snapped, her fist connecting with the thief's nose.

"It's not a lie, it's the truth." Kasumi replied as a trail of blood slowly began to crawl down over her lip.

"What of Commander Shepard?" Kessel asked, already gripping another of Kasumi's fingers.

"Missing, presumed dead." Kasumi replied.

"The first bit of good news so far." Kessel grinned. The grin suddenly disappeared as the next inevitable question occurred to her. "If Shepard is dead, who sent you here?"

"No-one." Kasumi replied. She steeled herself, waiting for the next broken finger, but it never came. Opening her eyes, she saw Kessel sharpening a blade she had extracted from her case.

"Evidently, you require a great deal more persuasion." Kessel stated in a monotone.

* * *

Garrus grimaced as the recorded message ended. Kasumi was in big trouble, and they were no closer to getting on to the station.

"So much for your great plan." Aria scowled from across the table.

The war room was an area on the ship that Aria's group had not really explored until now. Like the war room aboard the _Normandy_, there was a central area containing a round table with a holographic display. However, unlike the _Normandy_ the room was a harsh chrome and white ensemble, typical of Cerberus, and had its own FTL communication system in the same room, allowing all occupants to converse with any callers.

All of the new team were currently pondering the situation. Garrus, Zaeed, Aria, Bailey, Grunt, Kolyat and Xihlus were all staring at the floating hologram of the station, letting Kasumi's message and forwarded intel sink in.

"Frontal assault?" Zaeed asked.

"No chance." Aria replied instantly. "We'd all be dead long before we could see the inside."

"Speak for yourself." Grunt rumbled.

"She's right Grunt, they'd blow us out the sky." Garrus confirmed, leaning with his elbows on the table, staring intently at the hologram, deep in thought.

"Can we use these resistance factions to our advantage?" Kolyat ventured.

"Patriarch will be a problem." Aria replied. "He'll be waiting for Cerberus and the Allied Resistance to wear each other down before striking and claiming the station for himself. No-one has any reason to believe I'm alive."

"You'll certainly be an unwelcome face from his perspective." Zaeed added.

"Not from the civilians though." Garrus added. "Aria always ran things tight but fair. Didn't rip off anybody who didn't deserve it. Patriarch is already clubbing every human within his grasp, Cerberus or not."

"I get it; she's a figure to rally behind." Bailey ventured. "No-one but Patriarch wants Patriarch ruling the station."

"This is a pointless discussion unless we can get on the station in the first place." Zaeed stated.

"Agreed." Aria replied. "The mercenary fleets aren't going anywhere; they're in this for the long haul. Station's still locked down and our insider is locked up. We've got nothing."

Aria turned to Garrus expectantly. To her surprise, Garrus suddenly smiled, lifting himself up off his elbows.

"We do have something." He corrected her. "We have this ship."

"So?" Aria asked, arms crossed.

"Cerberus wants this ship. Badly. They'll know by now that the Illusive Man is dead and most of their resources have been consumed by the Alliance. This prototype, one-of-a-kind warship is way too good an opportunity to pass up." Garrus explained.

"Haven't you already pulled this trick once?" Zaeed asked.

"Not like this." Garrus replied. "Give me half an hour to flesh out the details, then we'll meet back here. Dismissed."

"That's my order to give." Aria reminded him.

"Fine, give it." Garrus replied.

Silence fell between the group as Aria glared at the insolent turian.

"I'll make this clear." Garrus began, sensing a good opportunity. "You put yourself in to cryostasis because you had no idea how to deal with this situation. That's the only reason I'm here. Once we're all aboard, our priorities change and we go our separate ways. Could be, one day we all end up killing each other." He paused, letting his words sink in.

"Until then, **I'm** in charge." He continued. "This truce is a temporary one. Grunt, Zaeed and Kasumi are getting well paid for their skills and their loyalty. When that cash runs out, I don't expect them to hang around, though I'll be one happy turian if they do. You want to boss Xihlus around, go ahead, but despite your storied and illustrious commando career, you can't hold a candle to me and you know it."

Aria was visibly furious with him now, both for showing her up and for speaking an uncomfortable truth.

"If you'll let me, I'll put you back on Omega's throne." Garrus stated, changing tack. "When you get on that throne, act as you always did, and we won't have a problem."

"Fine." Aria hissed after a moment's contemplation. "You're in charge until the moment we step foot on Omega."

"I'm glad to hear it." Garrus replied. "Dismissed."

Everyone turned to leave, Aria stomping through the doorway quickly, clearly very annoyed.

"Not you Xihlus." Garrus called after the retreating turian. "We need to talk. Close the door."

Xihlus looked warily at the elder turian – from whom he had already received several bruises – and turned to seal the door.

As the doors hissed shut, Xihlus turned just in time to see the butt of a pistol swinging towards his face.

* * *

Kasumi choked back a sob as Kessel finally withdrew the blade from her thigh. If she cried too loudly, the bitch would win.

"Miss Goto, you are making this so hard on yourself." Kessel said in mock sympathy. "I only want to know one little bit of information."

"I told you who sent me." Kasumi groaned.

"Yes. Unfortunately for you, even I know that Blasto the hanar spectre is a fictional character." Kessel replied, her lips pursed.

"Do you have any idea what will happen to you if you keep hurting me?" Kasumi spat, clutching at straws. "Do you know the kind of people I associate with?"

"Indeed I do." Kessel replied, nonplussed. "Mordin Solus. Former-STG genophage specialist. Dead. Thane Krios. Assassin. Responsible for the One-Hour Massacre right here on this station. Dead. Commander Shepard. The first human Spectre. Saviour of the Citadel. Dead."

Kessel paused to let the various statements sink in.

"Excuse me for not shaking in my boots." Kessel replied. "But unless the dead rise from their graves I don't have much to fear from your friends."

"What about Admiral Zorah?" Kasumi bit back. "Field Marshal Garrus Vakarian? Not to mention Steven Hackett."

"Have you ever been raped?" Kessel asked suddenly.

Kasumi froze, an ice-cold weight suddenly appearing in her stomach.

"I admit; it's an awful thing for one woman to subject another woman to." Kessel continued. "But some of the soldiers outside were taking a few appreciative looks at you as they dragged you in here."

Kasumi stayed perfectly still uttering no response.

"I see I've hit a nerve." Kessel grinned sadistically.

* * *

Xihlus groaned at the pain in his head as he came to. The harsh white of the war room wasn't a pleasant colour to wake up to. The young turian attempted to pull his left arm to his face, but quickly found he was handcuffed to a nearby railing.

In front of him stood Garrus Vakarian, looking over the hologram of Omega projected by the table. At the sound of rattling handcuffs, the elder turian turned around, picking up a pad, and leaned back as he looked directly at the younger male.

"Good, you're awake." Garrus began.

"Is this really necessary?" Xihlus groaned, clutching his head with his free hand.

"Sorry, you've just got one of those faces that I like to punch." Garrus remarked.

"But… you hit me with your gun." Xihlus asked.

"Well, I've already hit you once this week, you can have too much of a good thing." Garrus clarified. "Anyway, down to business."

The elder turian looked down at the pad he was holding, waving it in the younger turian's direction.

"A little parting gift from the Shadow Broker." He gestured to the pad. "The military service and personal histories of one Xihlus Victus."

Xihlus looked carefully at the pad, then at Garrus.

"Born on Palaven in 2157 to parents Adrien and Solyanae Victus. The second of three children. Adrien a noted soldier tipped for command, Solyanae completed her two years military service reliably but unremarkably." Garrus began, reading straight off the pad.

"The first contact war begins a week after you're born, dad's called up, mom's excused. Dad leaves a soldier, comes back a hero, true to the Victus name. School grades, tests, blah blah blah…" Garrus trailed off.

"OK, here it gets interesting." Garrus resumed. "Following in the footsteps of your older brother and your dad, you sign up for your service age sixteen, no surprises there. But the _real_ surprise is that you sign up for the navy."

Garrus looked up from the pad straight into the eyes of the younger turian. Xihlus stared back evenly, waiting for the elder male to finish relaying his life history.

"And here, the lies begin." Garrus stated plainly. "You _ace_ your aptitude tests. You _ace_ your flight simulations and then to top it all off, you _ace_ your live flight tests. Top of your class, third percentile overall."

"That wasn't a lie! I really did that!" Xihlus spat, speaking for the first time.

"I know you did." Garrus replied. "That's not the lie I'm talking about. The lies begin in your personal correspondence to your parents. Instead of relaying the true story about being the rising star of the navy cadets, you spin this ridiculous tale about life as an army cadet."

Garrus let the information sink in, giving the younger turian time to respond.

"What… what was ridiculous about it?" Xihlus asked.

"Oh, your parents bought it for a while, no doubt." Garrus replied. "But you talk about training exercises that never happened, classmates who don't exist. You had to know it would all go wrong eventually. But, for a while, you got lucky."

"I'd hardly call the uprising of a new separatist movement lucky." Xihlus responded.

"Oh, but it was for you." Garrus replied, smiling. "Formal graduation is cancelled and you're immediately pressed into active service. You climb the ranks over the course of the uprising through sheer skill, and within months you're a goddamned Squadron Leader."

Xihlus stared impassively, not reacting at all to the mention of his extraordinary achievements.

"And then… Dad finds out. While he's had his head stuck in the trenches, someone congratulates him on his son's commendation for valour. Victus tells him he's made a mistake, before being handed the news article. There he sees a picture of his son in an air force dress uniform and his blood boils."

"… The Victus name is tied to the army." Xihlus sighed. "We're known for glory on the ground, not in the air."

"And as such, when the conflict is over, he pulls the rug out from under you, transferring you to a fully-fledged, combat-ready commando unit in the army using his substantial connections." Garrus continued.

"He didn't care that I barely knew one end of an assault rifle from the other." Xihlus replied sadly, breaking eye contact with Garrus and staring at his own feet.

"Then an old friend of mine pops into the picture, and information gets, understandably, difficult to come by." Garrus began again.

"Xihlus, what does Saren Arterius have to do with all this?"

* * *

Kasumi's head lolled as she struggled to stay conscious. The pain of her various cuts and bruises fogged her mind, making it difficult to focus on Kessel's questions.

"It's only been two hours Miss Goto." Kessel's voice registered in her ears.

"Well… so far it's been… delightful." Kasumi replied breathlessly.

"Your resilience is admirable, if irritating. Indeed, I now respect you enough to not call in the lovely gentlemen outside." Kessel replied, swapping blades for what seemed like the thousandth time. "It'll just be you and me from now on."

"Yay." The thief replied, slipping into unconsciousness.

"This isn't a slumber party!" Kessel shouted, slapping the thief hard.

The Cerberus agent moved closer to the gasping thief, grabbing her hair and tilting her head upwards.

"Do you think someone is coming to save you?" Kessel asked, tracing a scalpel blade down the thief's cheek, drawing a thin trail of blood. "Do you think Shepard is watching over you?"

* * *

"I'd just been dumped into the regiment." Xihlus began. "I hadn't even been through basic. Orders came from above. A council spectre has requested the aid of our regiment specifically. Next thing I know, we're on a transport headed for some rock near the Perseus Veil."

Garrus was now the silent half of the conversation, listening intently to the story.

"We don't even know its Saren until the shuttle doors open and he's standing there. I'm not that sure who he is, but the hushed whispers between the men as we followed him into this warehouse… Well, I quickly figured out he was a living legend. He reaches the middle of the warehouse floor and we're trying to figure out what exactly we're doing there. He just… stood there."

Xihlus paused, seemingly lost in the horror of what was to come in his story.

"Go on." Garrus urged.

"Red targeting lasers rained down from the ceiling. We looked up and the ceiling was filled with geth crawlers. Of course, we didn't know that then. Then, destroyers… juggernauts. They came out of the shadows, out of the crates. They cut us down effortlessly, I just watched the guys fall. The geth fired around Saren, his shields didn't even take a hit. He just watched." Xihlus continued, a haunted expression on his face.

"How did you escape?" Garrus asked.

"The whole thing didn't take long." Xihlus explained. "The warehouse door was closing. Saren was too busy watching the geth to see me. I rolled under and ran back to the shuttle. Once I broke atmo, geth fighters followed me. They clearly didn't expect a trained pilot. I outmanoeuvred them, even took one of them down. Hit the mass relay, went straight to the Citadel."

"I take it Saren had made his move by the time you got there." Garrus reasoned.

"Yeah…" Xihlus replied. "Saren reported that he had destroyed the geth single-handed and that I had run away. He was a spectre, I wasn't even commissioned in the army. I was ruined. Parents disowned me, but Saren couldn't kill me for fear of retribution from my dad."

"He must have been interested to see a battle between modern day organics and synthetics… You were so discredited it didn't matter that you lived. I remember the case." Garrus mentioned as he brought up his Omni-tool, remotely unlocking the handcuffs chaining Xihlus to the railing. Xihlus clutched his now free wrist, massaging away the ache. Garrus crossed over to him, extending a hand.

"You know, I could easily clear your name." Garrus suggested.

"No need. Truth be told, I wasn't really a very good turian." Xihlus replied, allowing Garrus to heave him to his feet.

Garrus took a moment to register the familiar sentiment.

"You know what?" Garrus smiled as he stood face to face with the younger man. "Neither was I."

* * *

_A/N: Many thanks to all reviewers so far, I've been trying my best to get back to everyone who had specific comments/questions.  
_

_A/N2: If you like this story, check out my (reasonably) new one-shot stories listed on my profile page.  
_


	11. Chapter 11

The Return of Archangel

Chapter Eleven

General Petrovsky leaned over the railing as he pondered the situation he found himself in. In one hand, a revolutionary cloaking device confiscated from the young Miss Goto. In the other, a simple bottle of water.

The General straightened and took a sip from the bottle as he registered the presence behind him. Turning to investigate, his eyes fell upon his most prized agent.

"Operative Darren." Petrovsky greeted. "Status report?"

"Kessel is currently attempting to extract information from the thief. We have some preliminary data." The man handed a data pad to the General, who put the device in his hand on the table in order to take it.

After examining the information in front of him, the General paused, taking another sip from his water.

"The Illusive Man is dead…" Petrovksy read aloud. Looking up at the middle-aged operative in front of him, he tilted his head ever so slightly. "What do you think of this?"

"The information seems reasonably valid sir, though I suppose information yielded from torture…" The operative trailed off, letting the sentence linger.

"No, not the validity of the information, the information itself." The General clarified.

The operative had already known that, he had merely tried to avoid it. Pushing aside his doubts, he responded truthfully.

"It's excellent news sir." Darren replied confidently.

The General was silent for a moment, eyeing the operative. Gently placing the pad to the side, he leaned back into the plush leather sofa.

"Take a seat." The General requested politely. The operative did so, settling in comfortably.

"The death of the Illusive Man is not excellent, it is meaningless." The General replied. "Since our parting of the ways, I control approximately thirty per cent of Cerberus."

"How many broke off from his group to assault Benning?" Darren asked.

"Early figures suggested around five per cent of Cerberus as a whole." The General replied. "The remaining sixty-five per cent was under the control of the Illusive Man, and therefore the Reapers."

"So…" The operative began, quickly running the numbers in his head. "The thirty per cent of Cerberus that remains is right here on this station."

"Indeed." The General replied, the expression on his face remaining neutral.

"Thank God we defected before the implantation process became mandatory." Darren exhaled in relief.

"Once he brought that Reaper through the Omega-4 relay, I knew he'd become indoctrinated. Doctor Chandana had a great mind, and was a strong man. A true ally of Cerberus. If he fell to the power of the Reapers, the Illusive Man certainly wouldn't be able to stand up to them." Petrovsky replied.

"Sir, if I might be so bold…" Darren began. "Did you always dislike the Illusive Man?"

The General was silent, and Darren worried that he had overstepped his boundaries. The operative mentally breathed a sigh of relief when Petrovsky responded.

"Not at first." He began. "As you know, I was one of the first ever recruits. Early enough to actually go on missions with him. He wasn't a great soldier, but he didn't need to be. He had a keen enough mind, and no compunctions about shooting someone in the back if it furthered his cause. It worked really well for about two decades. His operation genuinely did secure humanity's place on the galactic stage."

"What changed?" Darren asked tentatively.

"Money." Came the blunt reply. "We became huge with our legitimate business deals and fronts. Suddenly, he became all about delegation and secret projects. We were essentially a black ops group before then, moving from mission to mission, all of us working towards the same goal. Then he opens the floodgates while recruiting, filling the organisation with yes-men and know-nothing mercenaries. Before we knew it, nobody knew what anyone else was doing."

"He still directed the best of them to you though." Darren queried.

"He sent Lawson to me for military training, Leng too." Petrovsky confirmed disdainfully. "I asked for her to remain in Samurai cell with me, but he sent her elsewhere. He started smoking cigars and swilling scotch, parked on his ass, king of his own little hill. Sending me to go out and crush the rogue cells he hadn't kept a close enough eye on. You won't have heard of the Teltin facility?"

Darren shook his head, prompting Petrovsky to continue.

"It was built on a jungle planet called Pragia. Housed a load of biotic children. How would you further humanity's cause, or even Cerberus' cause, with that set-up?" Petrovsky asked.

"Brainwashing?" Darren suggested. "Model the kids on asari commandos, make your own squad of fanatically loyal biotics?"

"Exactly." Petrovsky replied. "But what happened? The nutcase head of research decided to start performing lethal stress tests on the kids in order to make the best of them some kind of super biotic. Somehow, that slipped under the Illusive Man's radar, and before we knew it, everyone was dead except for the now stupidly-powerful, Cerberus-despising girl. Why did that happen? Because the Illusive Man was too busy watching over some other project that ended up a complete failure."

"I take it that's just, as they say, the tip of the iceberg?" Darren asked.

"Yes." Petrovsky replied, winding the conversation down. "So… that makes you second in command of all of Cerberus, how do you feel about that?"

"Well, I've had worse days sir." Operative Darren grinned. Their attention was suddenly directed to one of the General's analysts, who made her way up the stairs towards the two men.

"Yes, what is it?" Petrovsky asked, eyeing the newcomer.

"Sir, we're being hailed." The analyst reported, a confused expression on her face. "By the _Indomitable_."

* * *

"_Forgive me if your story doesn't exactly ring true, turian."_ The bearded man's voice echoed over the speakers.

"I swear, I found this ship floating outside the Harsa relay." Xihlus replied. "I barely know how to fly it, and I had to install a new navigation computer to even go anywhere without crashing into a moon or something."

"_So the main computer is locked out?"_ The man asked.

"Yeah." Xihlus replied. "I was out looking for salvage around Khar'Shan and it showed up on ladar."

"_How did you know who the ship belonged to?"_ The man asked.

"The Cerberus logos on everything from the cups to the towels were kind of a giveaway." Xihlus replied sarcastically.

"_OK, I'll send docking instr-"_

"Not so fast." Xihlus interrupted him. "I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart, especially considering you're Cerberus."

"_What do you want?"_ The man sighed.

"Credits. Five million to be exact." Xihlus replied, crossing his arms. "Transfer the credits to my account, and I'll disengage this ship's rather excellent stealth system, take one of the shuttles, and be on my merry way."

"_No deal."_ The man replied, adopting a similar stance to the turian.

"Oh come on." Xihlus scoffed. "How much did it cost you to make a boat like this? One-fifty million? Two? If you'd rather pay that again, I'll happily sell to the Alliance. Maybe I'd even get more for it."

"…_Fine."_ Petrovsky replied. _"Send your account details."_

"Think he bought it?" Xihlus asked as he cut the communication, turning to face Garrus and Aria.

"I'd say so." Garrus replied. "Nice work."

"It's definitely Petrovsky." Aria confirmed. "At least we don't have an unknown in charge."

"What's he like?" Garrus asked.

"Fanatically devoted to Cerberus, but not in the usual ranting, raving, racist way." Aria replied. "If I were dating him, I'd say he was the strong, silent type. As I'm planning to kill him, I'll just call him dangerous, cunning and devoted to his cause."

"OK, let's get to the shuttle." Garrus ordered. "You clear on the plan, Xihlus?"

"Affirmative." Xihlus replied.

"Good man, let's finally get ourselves on to this damn station." Garrus called out to him as he marched after Aria out the door.

* * *

"OK, looks like Petrovsky and Xihlus have made the exchange. A small flotilla is headed our way, three frigates, thirty-two shuttles." Garrus remarked as he looked over the shuttle's navigation console.

"How's the Cerberus armour fitting you guys?" Zaeed asked Aria and Kolyat as he squeezed a gauntlet over his bulky forearm.

"Better than you." Aria remarked dryly as she watched him struggle, easily clipping her helmet into place.

Aria had selected phantom-class gear from the _Indomitable's_ armour locker as her disguise, and had spent a bit too long looking at the accompanying sword vengefully for the group's liking. Kolyat had strapped on guardian-class armour, and was fixing the shield to a handle on his back.

Zaeed heaved his centurion-class shield generator onto his back, clipping it into place with the rest of the armour.

"Grunt, you figured out that cloaking device yet?" Garrus called from the cockpit.

"This is stupid!" Grunt growled. "Krogan don't hide in the shadows!"

"I promise, the first Cerberus soldier we get to kill, I'll let you deal with." Garrus sighed, securing his own cloaking device.

Grunt huffed, proceeding to sulk as he flopped down onto the row of chairs.

"Who'd have thought our own little Grunt would become the first krogan infiltrator?" Zaeed chuckled.

"If Wrex ever found out about this…" Grunt began.

"I'm sure he'd let you off just this once." Garrus replied, turning back to the screens. "The flotilla's closing in, get ready."

* * *

"The flotilla is approaching the _Indomitable_ sir." Operative Darren confirmed to Petrovsky from his place at one of the many information screens in Cerberus HQ. "The turian doesn't seem to be going anywhere, no, wait. There it is; shuttle's leaving now."

Petrovsky leaned in over the operative's shoulder, surveying the screen. A shuttle had indeed appeared on the screen, heading for the mass relay at top speed.

"Shall we move to intercept sir?" Darren asked.

"No point." Petrovsky admitted. "The turian timed it so we'll never catch him before he hits the mass relay. As much as I loathe paying for our own ship, it's a small price to pay overall."

* * *

"Bailey's shuttle's nearly at the mass relay. You strapped in?" Xihlus asked as he settled into the pilot's chair.

"_We certainly are."_ Garrus replied over the comm. _"Do your thing."_

"Acknowledged." Xihlus replied, shutting down the communication.

His talons expertly dancing over the console, he engaged all of the ships systems. Cyberwarfare, main weapons, engines and shields were online, and the thrusters were powering up. As quickly as he could, he fired the Thanix cannon directly at the unshielded main frigate, watching in satisfaction as the frigate was instantly shaken with a series of obliterating explosions before disintegrating completely.

The main damage was done, and Petrovsky would scramble fighters immediately. Xihlus fired a few more precise blasts from the cannon and several shuttles shared the fate of the main frigate. The smaller craft were completely underprepared for such intense blasts, and were utterly overwhelmed.

"Offensive's done." Xihlus shouted as the first laser blasts impacted the _Indomitable's _shields. "Opening the hangar door now!"

"Acknowledged!" Garrus yelled back over the comm. "Once we're clear-"

"Get to the mass relay and rendezvous with Bailey and the kids, I've got it." Xihlus confirmed, engaging the mass effect core. "Get going!"

Garrus steered the ship out of the shuttle bay as he powered up the weapons. This had to be timed just right, or he'd signed all their death warrants. Once outside the ship, Garrus brought the shuttle around, watching as the shuttle bay door closed.

"We're clear!" Garrus told Xihlus over the comm. "Get going!"

"_Acknowledged._" Xihlus replied.

Garrus fired a few shots at the _Indomitable's_ aft, watching as they dissipated harmlessly into the shields. He kept up the volley of fire as shuttles began to surround the vessel in textbook formation.

"I don't think we've been noticed." Aria announced as she entered the cockpit, settling into the co-pilot's chair.

"Well, we're not on fire, that's something of a giveaway." Garrus replied as he watched the _Indomitable_ disappear, bending the light of the stars as the mass effect core engaged, sending the ship hurtling off towards the mass relay.

"Kolyat, have you found that frequency?" Garrus asked hurriedly as the ships realised they were firing at empty space.

"Got it!" Kolyat confirmed triumphantly from his console, patching them in.

"_-peat, all ships return to Hangar 617. The Indomitable will have engaged stealth systems the second it stopped, we'll never find it."_

Garrus engaged autopilot, leaning back into his chair, exhausted.

"We did it people, that's phase one." Garrus announced as he got out of the chair, passing into the main section. "Now, Grunt and I will launch the rescue mission for Kasumi, the three of you get into Afterlife and scout around. I'll signal you by Navpoint for our rendezvous."

"Got it." Zaeed replied, straining to jam a boot over his foot.

* * *

"Those… Goddess. Damned. Mother… FUCKERS!" Aria snarled as the doors to the nightclub-turned Cerberus HQ opened, revealing the new interior design.

"Keep it down!" Zaeed hissed.

"Just look what they've done to the place!" Aria retorted, lowering her voice slightly.

"Yeah, they repainted, the heartless bastards." Zaeed snapped back, his voice hushed. "Get to a console and start digging for God's sake!"

Kolyat had already moved to a free console and commenced his investigations.

"_Personnel, Inventory, Criminal Database. Access._" The young drell thought as he scrolled down. "_Patriarch. Public Enemy Number One. Head of Xeno-Resistance, former ruler of Omega… Downloading to Omni-tool."_

Across the room, Zaeed had taken the first option, and was scrolling through the list of Cerberus' top players on Omega. He had already downloaded the information on the leading man, General Petrovsky. Zaeed knew the man by reputation, and was looking forward to going toe-to-toe with him.

Zaeed looked up to the balcony. The man there wasn't Petrovsky – the lack of a beard was something of a giveaway – but he looked important. He wore a uniform instead of armour, and was scrolling over some datapads.

Looking back at the monitor, the man matched the face of the second-in-command. Operative Darren.

"_An Operative is second in command of this entire place?"_ The mercenary querired to himself. _"Wow, things have really gone to shit for Cerberus."_

Scrolling further to the full roster, he took in the number of Cerberus employees aboard the station.

"_Twenty-six thousand?"_ Zaeed mused. _"There's nearly eight million people aboard this station. How are Cerberus keeping control?"_

Zaeed scrolled down to a directory called 'Operations'. His eyes widened as he took in some of the numbers. Cerberus had been focussing their efforts on killing batarians, with notes implying that with the collapse of the hegemony at the beginning of the Reaper conflict, the time to engineer their extinction and claim their space was now. Ninety-five per cent of the resident batarians aboard the station had been killed, leaving fewer than six thousand behind, all of whom had fled to the lower reaches of the station, protected by Patriarch.

The turians, krogan and asari had fared better, with Cerberus not targeting them especially. Both species were split pretty evenly between the resistance groups. The asari were suffering though, with Cerberus troopers catching them for nefarious purposes and slapping them with biotic suppression collars.

"Aria, it's Zaeed." He barked into his communicator. "Cerberus are slaughtering non-humans in the thousands, and they're targeting asari as sex slaves… Aria? Aria?"

Zaeed slowly peered around to try and find the disguised asari. There were a few phantom-class soldiers in the area, making finding her a tougher task now she had apparently decided to enter radio silence.

"Kolyat, I've got the data. Can you see Aria?" Zaeed asked over the comm.

He saw the disguised drell turn from his terminal, the small movements of his helmet the only indication that he was investigating the area.

"By the tides…" The drell gasped. "Stairs."

A phantom armour clad figure had just finished moving up the stairs, and was slowly approaching the overseeing officer.

"That guy's name is Darren, he's the second in command." Zaeed informed Kolyat as he casually crossed the room to the drell.

"Get back on that terminal." Zaeed said as he nervously watched Aria move behind the operative. "Finish your download and get ready to make the lights strobe if you can."

Aria's sword glinted as she slowly withdrew it from the scabbard on her back, but a soldier had seen her, and was reaching for his sidearm.

"Kolyat, do it now!" Zaeed shouted as he drew his sniper rifle. The lights went down as Zaeed took aim and came back up as he took the shot.

Up on the balcony, Darren span around just in time to see the glint of the sword as it flew towards his neck. His head was severed from his shoulders at the exact same moment as the soldier's head exploded to Aria's left.

"You stupid bitch Aria!" Zaeed roared over the comm as the lights began to blink on and off rapidly, disorienting the nearby soldiers. Kolyat had reacted quickly, drawing a pistol and bringing his shield to block incoming fire headed for himself and Zaeed.

"We need to get out of here!" Kolyat cried in alarm as shots began to rain down on his shield.

"No kidding." Zaeed growled as he switched to his assault rifle, mowing down two soldiers nearby.

"I'm on my way!" Aria exclaimed, strain evident in her voice as the sound of her charging biotic field crackled over the comm. The strobing lights made targeting a pain for everyone in the hall, and Zaeed was feeling the strain himself. He couldn't imagine how difficult the young drell was finding the firefight, as his species eyes' apparently weren't suited to harsh light at the best of times.

As the lights dipped again, Zaeed saw a flash of purple, and as they rose once more Aria stood in the place previously occupied by a Centurion, who was now sprawled on the floor.

"Kolyat, we're headed for the door, use the shield to cover our six!" Zaeed ordered, breaking into a run.

"Acknowledged!" Kolyat replied, holding the shield aloft and running after the older man, grimacing as bullets continued to push the sheet metal to its limits.

* * *

"This is stupid." Grunt huffed as he and Garrus bumped into each other for the twentieth time.

"At least we know our cloaks work…" Garrus sighed as he righted himself.

The two of them had made their way to where Kasumi was being held, following the signal emitted by Kasumi's sub-dermal Omni-tool.

"Just a few more… Oh my God." Garrus exclaimed as they approached the signal.

The door to the interrogation room had been blasted off its hinges, huge scorch marks covering the walls. A metal chair in the centre of the room was now empty, though slick with human blood, and various blood-stained blades had been thrown across the room by the same explosive shockwave that had removed the door.

An Omni-tool implant flashed intermittently from its resting place on the table. Garrus disengaged his cloak as he crossed over to it.

"Someone beat us to it?" Grunt asked as he disengaged his own cloak.

"Well, whoever was here last evidently didn't have a key." Garrus deadpanned as he gestured to the blackened, twisted remnants of the door. "And this is definitely her Omni-tool."

Garrus pocketed the device, and turned to the doorway.

"So where do we look now?" Grunt asked.

Garrus was quiet for a moment.

"I have no idea." He finally replied, sullenly.

* * *

_A/N: Over a month since my last update, please accept my sincerest apologies. 'Real life' has been very trying lately._

_As ever, all of your reviews are appreciated._


	12. Chapter 12

The Return of Archangel

Chapter Twelve

"… morphine derivative for the pain, she'll take a while to recover from the surgery, as simple a cosmetic procedure as it was."

"Hey Doc, she's waking up." A deep voice came from nowhere.

"Too soon." A female voice replied. "Administering more sedative now."

"Stop!" The first voice ordered. "Any more sedative will react badly with her painkillers. Let her come round."

Kasumi blinked as the harsh halogen lights above overwhelmed her vision. Straining to pull herself into a seated position, an arm softly appeared around her shoulders for her to lean on, helping her as she succeeded in righting herself.

"Thank you." Kasumi winced as the arm was removed and she leaned back on some pillows. Looking around, she took in her surroundings.

She was laying on a simple hospital bed in some kind of infirmary. Her skin felt like it was on fire in some spots, and a dull ache persisted pretty much everywhere else. There were three occupants in the room other than herself. A female human, a male batarian and a male salarian.

The salarian walked to the sink, filling a cup with water, and returned, offering the drink to Kasumi.

"Take this." The salarian suggested. "It'll help to clear your head."

Kasumi took the water and drank a few sips.

"Thank you." She said. "Where am I exactly?"

"Before we get to that stage, we should probably do some introductions." The batarian commanded from across the room.

"Indeed." The salarian concurred. "I'll start. My name is Doctor Maelon Heplorn."

"I know you." Kasumi replied. "You were Mordin's rogue student on Tuchanka."

"Indeed I was." Maelon replied, a look of something inscrutable momentarily flashing across his face. It was gone as quickly as it came, and he continued. "That means you were one of Commander Shepard's crew. Is he coming?"

Kasumi was quiet for a moment.

"No…" She replied softly. "The Commander is… no longer with us. Defeating the Reapers came at a cost."

"I see." Maelon replied. "I'm sorry for your loss. He was a good man, I could tell that from our brief meeting."

"My name is Kasumi Goto." Kasumi stated. "I was part of Shepard's crew, and then I went to work on the Crucible project."

"You're a scientist then?" Maelon asked.

"Not exactly. I was sent here by G… well, you know him as 'Archangel'." Kasumi clarified.

"Impossible, Archangel's dead." The batarian scoffed.

"Hear the girl out please, dear." The woman standing next to Kasumi ordered.

"Thank you." Kasumi replied. "Wait… 'dear'?"

"Will these reactions never end?" The woman mock-sighed, smiling. "My name is Kate, and the sullen batarian over in the corner is my husband, Balohr."

"Wow…" Kasumi exclaimed in surprise. "A human-batarian interspecies marriage?"

Kate winced slightly as her cheery expression faltered.

"I'm sorry, that was a ridiculously clinical description." Kasumi apologised sheepishly.

"Well, we're in a very clinical setting, so we'll let it slide." Kate replied, her smile returning to her face.

Kasumi took a moment to look at the two. From what she knew of batarians, Balohr was an older male, and Kate was around Doctor Chakwas's age.

"How long have you been together?" Kasumi asked brightly.

"Together twenty years, married for seventeen." The batarian replied as Kate opened her mouth. "And now that you know enough about the three of us to write a complete dossier, I'd like some answers."

The batarian had made his way to his wife's side, and was looking at Kasumi with an even stare. His wife turned to him, exasperation evident on her face.

"When we found her she was being sliced to pieces by Cerberus and was tied to a…" Kate was cut off by a scream.

The source of the scream wasn't hard to find. Kasumi was thrashing around on the bed, panting and screaming.

"Grab her legs, she's having a delayed reaction to the trauma!" Maelon commanded as he grabbed the thief's arm. Balohr threw himself over the end of the bed, grabbing Kasumi's ankles and holding her down.

"Sweetheart, it's OK, you're safe!" Kate called out to Kasumi as she grabbed her head and brought her close to hear chest. Kasumi was sobbing and gasping frantically in distress by this point. Kate held her close and gently stroked her hair as her thrashing waned.

"It's over, honey." Kate soothed as the thief cried. Kasumi snuggled into the maternal embrace as her wails turned into sniffles.

"I-I'm sorry…" Kasumi gasped as she ran out of steam.

"Don't worry about it." Kate whispered softly as she withdrew from the embrace. Kate brought over some tissues, and Kasumi wiped the tears from her face. "I spoke a bit too harshly. Had you forgotten what had happened?"

Kasumi nodded as she calmed herself down.

"Likely the drugs." Balohr guessed. "Sorry kid. I guess that what my wife was about to say was that given the state you were in when we found you, you clearly were no friend of Cerberus."

"Indeed. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend', I believe is the human proverb." Maelon interjected.

"What happened exactly?" Kasumi asked.

"We hacked Cerberus' comm channels and monitor them constantly. News of an outsider gaining access to the station made it around pretty fast." Balohr replied. "We decided we had to get to you before Cerberus killed you, or at the very least before Patriarch could get to you."

"You were unconscious and losing blood rapidly when we found you." Kate informed her softly. "Any doctor other than Doctor Heplorn here probably wouldn't have been able to save you."

Kasumi looked down at her own body. While most of it was covered by a surgical gown, her exposed arms were free of any apparent injuries, with the exception of some bright pink discolouration running in lines all the way down.

"I fixed your broken arm and strengthened the fracture line with some nanotech." Maelon explained. "Your scars, which were numerous, have been dealt with. The pink will fade in about a week, and you'll look like nothing ever happened. Unfortunately, the psychological scarring is not something I can fix."

"Maelon!" Kate hissed scornfully.

"I'm sorry, was that rude?" Maelon asked, genuinely uncertain.

"It's fine." Kasumi replied. "Given the magnitude of the hissy fit I just threw it's not exactly a secret."

"Do you remember much?" Balohr asked.

"Not really." Kasumi replied, shaking her head.

"Well regardless of whatever you want to tell us, you should probably know that when we blew the door, the only person in the cell was you, which implies that your interrogator got what he wanted." Balohr informed her with some sympathy.

"She." Kasumi spat by way of correction. "She got what she wanted."

* * *

"You brought the fucking head!?" Zaeed whispered as the group ducked into a shipping container.

"Yeah." Aria replied, panting.

"Care to explain why?" Zaeed asked as their pursuers ran past their hiding spot.

Relaxing slightly now that the chase was over, Aria placed the head on the ground as she unclipped her helmet.

"Show of force." Aria replied. "The Queen of Omega is back, and Cerberus sure as hell knows it."

"I see." Zaeed replied calmly. "So there goes Archangel's stealth plan. And also, they don't actually know it's you, because they didn't see your face."

Aria was quiet for a moment as Zaeed's words sunk in.

"Well…" Aria trailed off.

"Want to hear my hypothesis?" Zaeed asked.

"Not really." Aria replied. "But I imagine that won't stop you."

"You've spent so much time playing mum with the kids that you decided to throw yourself off the fucking deep end to prove to us all that you're not going soft." Zaeed ventured.

"That's ridi-" Aria began.

"EXCEPT," Zaeed butted in, "none of us thought you had gone soft, and so what you ACTUALLY did was potentially FUCK the plan and nearly get the three of us killed TWENTY MINUTES after setting foot on the station."

"I agree." Kolyat said, speaking for the first time since the escape from Afterlife. "And I think Archangel dressing you down in front of all of us didn't help matters."

"Well said kid." Zaeed replied. "And, for the record, you surpassed my expectations in there. Nice work."

"…Thanks." Kolyat replied, letting the unexpected compliment sink in.

"You can NOT speak to me like that." Aria growled at the two of them.

"You still haven't got it yet have you?" Zaeed exclaimed in exasperation. "You're not the Queen of Omega anymore! And at this rate you won't be Queen ever again – because you'll get us all fucking killed before you get the chance!"

Aria opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the beeping of Zaeed's Omni-tool. Bringing it up, Zaeed read the message.

_To: __ , ,_ U. Grunt

_From: K. Goto_

_Subject: Co-ordinates_

_Guys, I've been rescued by the human-friendly resistance. Co-ordinates for rendezvous attached._

"That's good isn't it?" Kolyat asked, having read the message over Zaeed's shoulder.

"No way." Zaeed replied. "That isn't her, it's a trap."

"How do you know?" Aria rolled her eyes.

"She and I were on the same team for months. We had every meal together and she took every opportunity to annoy me. In short, she's a friend. She doesn't write like that. For starters, there's no kisses or anything else cute about it." Zaeed explained. His Omni-tool beeped again.

_To: Z. Massani_

_From: G. Vakarian_

_Subject: Re: Co-ordinates_

_Trap. Heading to your position now for rendezvous._

"See?" Zaeed asked Aria smugly.

* * *

"Grunt, do you hear that?" Archangel's disembodied voice asked.

"Gunfire." The young krogan replied, his voice seemingly also appearing from nowhere. "400 metres. Cerberus weapons. Assorted others."

The krogan instantly started running in the direction of the battle, his heavy retreating footsteps the only indication that he was on the move.

Smiling, Garrus started to run after him.

"Guys, do you read? We've found the resistance battling Cerberus at the following co-ordinates, I'm letting Grunt off the leash." Garrus shouted over the comm as he ran.

"_Acknowledged. We've lost our pursuers, so we'll head to you." _Zaeed responded.

"Pursuers?" Garrus asked, breaking off from Grunt's path and heading up a flight of stairs.

"_You can ask Aria when we get there. Zaeed out."_

Garrus grasped the hilt of his knife as he cautiously edged up the stairs. Sure enough, two Cerberus soldiers in Nemesis gear were covering the battlefield, hunched over a balcony railing.

Their shields flickered; the knife wasn't going to do for these kills. As Garrus readied an overload, unleashing it on the confused snipers, he unclipped a grenade and skimmed it across the floor in their direction.

The resulting explosion hurled the two over the railing, scorching the floor and raising the temperature considerably as it did so. Smiling, Garrus sauntered over to the now vacated spot, dropping his cloak and readying his sniper rifle.

Surveying the battlefield, Grunt was nowhere to be seen.

"The fuck…?" Garrus queried under his breath.

Suddenly, Garrus' feet were dragged out from underneath him, leaving him splayed on the floor. Unholstering his pistol and whirling round, Garrus came face to face with his missing krogan.

"What's going on Grunt?" Garrus asked as he holstered his weapon. "You never pass up the chance to kick some ass."

"Something's off down there." The young krogan replied cryptically. "Smell, cut through the blood rage."

"What smell?" Garrus asked, genuinely confused.

"Pheromones." Grunt clarified. "There's a krogan battlemaster down there, or nearby. Not sure which."

The gunfire had died down while Grunt was explaining himself. Engaging both their cloaks, the two peered down into the battlefield below.

They were just in time to see a krogan boot crushing the skull of a downed Cerberus trooper. The krogan looked up, and surveyed his surroundings, tens of vorcha swarming around him.

"Patriarch…?" Garrus asked Grunt, his voice low.

"Affirmative." Grunt growled. "Smells different. Powerful."

"We shouldn't forget this guy ruled Omega for centuries. Aria had difficulty taking him down." Garrus recalled. "If he's back on form, he could be bigger trouble than Cerberus in the long run."

"He's far from his base." Grunt noted.

"He sure is." Garrus replied. "After something. Kasumi maybe."

"How would he know she's here?" Grunt asked.

"I don't… What's he doing?" Garrus asked suddenly.

Patriarch appeared to be sniffing the air, and his gaze was slowly travelling towards the two hidden soldiers.

"If you can smell him…" Garrus began.

"I smell a bit strange to other krogan." Grunt growled. "Makes me more memorable."

"COME OUT URDNOT!" Patriarch suddenly bellowed. "OR DOES YOUR CLAN SUDDENLY FIGHT FROM THE SHADOWS LIKE SALARIANS?!"

"Guys," Garrus began, opening his commlink, "we've got a little bit of a situation here."

* * *

"I've made up my mind." Kasumi huffed, arms crossed.

"You're not going anywhere." Kate replied, mimicking Kasumi's pose. "You've lost too much blood. Frankly, I'm surprised you have the energy to talk."

"I…" Kasumi opened her mouth.

"Save it." Balohr cut her off. "Kate can literally argue for years."

He crossed over to her, handing her an Omni-tool.

"Call your team." He continued. "We could use some help…"

He shared a look with the salarian and his wife. Things were clearly not going well.

Kasumi strapped the holoemitter to her forearm, wincing as it pulled on her newly knitted flesh and bones.

"Tracking them now." Kasumi announced, her fingers flying over the brightly lit keys.

"How did you break through the Cerberus encryption?" Kate asked, shocked at Kasumi's progress.

"It's chaos in Cerberus headquarters." Kasumi noted, bringing up one of her minimized screens. "Bullet damage to the main computer and something about… decapitation? Must be a glitch. They don't even notice I'm in their files right now. I'm uploading as much as I can to your main computer."

"…Thanks kid." Balohr replied, seeming shocked, and perhaps touched. Kasumi guessed that he may have lost a lot of men trying to make even a tenth as much progress as she was making in a few minutes.

"I've found them!" Kasumi exclaimed brightly, sharing the security camera feed with the monitors all around.

The occupants of the room stared at the screens for a few seconds.

"What the hell are they doing?" Kate asked, peering closer at the monitor.

"I honestly don't know…" Kasumi trailed off as she took in the bizarre situation on-screen herself.

* * *

"Well, this all went to shit fast." Zaeed sighed.

Aria, Zaeed, Grunt and Kolyat were on their knees, hands on their heads, surrounded by Patriarch's vorcha.

The battlemaster himself approached them slowly, the krogan equivalent of a spring in his step very pronounced.

"So… you have returned." He grinned at Aria. "You braved the Reapers simply to die at my hands."

"Well, what can I say, we have a history." Aria drawled.

"Indeed, and what an ancient history it is." Patriarch chuckled. "But now, Omega will once again be mine, and you'll be whoring in the slums."

Aria scowled as Patriarch bent down to pick up the decapitated head in front of her.

"Cerberus. How pitiful they are." Patriarch remarked as he inspected the head in his hands. "And yet they drove you away from this place when I could not. What is the human saying? 'Timing is everything?'"

"It certainly is." Aria smirked.

Time seemed to stand still for the old krogan.

One second, he was locking eyes with the dead human whose head he held in his hands. The next –

Pain.

And fire.

And chaos.

Sniper rounds boomed as vorcha's heads began to explode like the one Patriarch had just been holding.

However, these beheadings were the result of the sniper rounds, not a remotely detonated inferno grenade hidden in each vorcha's head.

Then, as Patriarch reeled in agony on the floor, the prisoners were knocking vorcha around like ragdolls, and assault rifle fire was coming from all around.

Aria screamed with rage as she unleashed her biotics at a cluster of vorcha, Zaeed and Grunt had elected to dispatch them hand to hand, while Kolyat was combining biotics with precision pistol work. Garrus continued his work from the balcony, dispatching the hapless vorcha at range.

Fire. Blood. Rage. Violence.

The prisoners fought like gods, Patriarch mused as he lay motionless.

Quickly, the last of the vorcha fell. The prisoners approached slowly, standing in front of the prone krogan side by side, Aria at the centre.

A turian in blue armour came to a stop at Aria's side. The five stood before the gasping krogan, staring down at him as he lay dying. Drell, turian, asari, krogan and human, fighting as one.

Silently, the turian unholstered a pistol, expertly whirling it around in his hand so he held the barrel, offering the weapon to the asari at his left.

"Why thank you Archangel." Aria accepted the offer graciously, gripping the weapon firmly.

"Patriarch…" She chuckled. "You never learn do you?"

She took careful aim at the krogan's remaining, uncharred eye.

"And now you never will." She smiled, pulling the trigger.

* * *

_A/N: Massive delay in uploading new chapters, I know. Life has changed utterly for me since I began this story, and I have a lot less free time, but that's changing soon._

I originally hoped to finish this before the Omega DLC comes out, but that probably won't happen. Regardless, my ending for this is planned, so the DLC shouldn't change anything.

Thanks to all my reviewers, you really make this feel worthwhile :)


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